GETTY The rising popularity means Britain has become a vape nation with first liquid factory opening

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E-cigarette company Totally Wicked has opened a factory in Blackburn, Lancashire, to produce over 10million bottles of e-liquid every year to feed the nation’s habit. While the UK rise in vaping has also led to an increase in the number of new independent tobacconists, with 334 opening last year. Yet last month a health conference in Rome announced test results that vaping triggers similar levels of heart disease damage to arteris as smoking tobacco.

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Today Stuart Mercer, operations director of e-liquid makers Totally Wicked, hailed the new factory as a sign of Britain’s growing love for vaping. Mr Mercer said: “We needed this building to help us meet the growing demand for our products both in the UK and for export markets. “It is a cutting edge facility for e-liquid production. “Following completion we are now ideally placed to take the business to the next level, increasing production in a very clean, modern environment.”

GETTY Studies show vaping could be as bad for the heart as smoking is

Cllr Phil Riley, executive member for regeneration for Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “I am delighted that this business has expanded. “E-cigarettes are not for everyone but this is something that shows investment in Blackburn and I wish them every success.” Only last month it was revealed vaping could be as bad for your heart as smoking traditional cigarettes – as tests found e-cigarettes can cause ‘arterial stiffness’.. A professor told the world’s largest gathering of heart experts in Rome the devices are “far more dangerous than people realise”.

Top expert Prof Robert West, of University College London, said: “It would certainly be fair to say the study shows electronic cigarettes are not without any risk. “The critical question is how much risk?” While Prof Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “The study shows electronic cigarettes cannot be assumed to be risk free. “Much more research is needed to establish the safety of long-term use of these devices.”

GETTY Vape liquid producers are countering all health warnings saying it is not as harmful