A study from the UK has found that the number of children who have tried e-cigarettes doubled in the last year.

The research, which was carried out by Public Health England, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), and a number of universities, found that there is no evidence to suggest that the electric devices are a gateway to smoking traditional cigarettes.

8.2% of people under the age of 18 in the UK have tried e-cigarettes, according to this data - that's up from 4.6% last year and equates to 340,000 young people.

The number of people who said that they regularly use e-cigarettes increased from 0.9% to 1.7% - the vast majority of people who tried 'vaping' only did so on one or two occasions.

Those who regularly use e-cigarettes were "almost entirely" people who had already tried cigarettes.

From October of this year it will be illegal to sell these products to people who are under the age of 18 in the UK.

The research also found that the number of people between the ages of 11 and 15 who smoke tobacco in Britain is at an all time low.

The Irish Cancer society has found that there are more than 210,000 e-cigarette users in Ireland - the organisation has been critical of the lack of regulations controlling the products here.