Centuries old, the practice of Shisha, hubbly bubbly, hookah - whatever you want to call it - is proving ever more popular in Britain. Shrouded in controversy and mystique, JIM PALMER tries to cut through the smoke screen.

REMEMBER that caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland? You know - that contrary, existentialist one who puffs away on a hookah.

Well he was my first encounter with shisha - the smoking of flavoured tobacco through exotic water pipes - so it is no wonder I wasn’t taken by the concept.

Having watched that oddball on video about a thousand times shaped my perceptions to the extent I was convinced it was for smoking the kind of substance usually encountered at a Snoop Dogg concert.

Turns out it’s not and it is fairly sociable, often done in groups sharing a pipe.

It has been popular in south east Asia and the Middle East for centuries and in recent years has spread west, particularly among young people.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) claims 27 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds in this country have had a go.

In order to write about shisha properly, it strikes me I have to try it in its natural environment.

News Shopper stubbornly refused to send me to Egypt - where 3.5 per cent call themselves shisha smokers - so I ended up in Sultan, a Turkish restaurant in East Street, Bromley.

Taking a deep hit, I was shocked. The mint tobacco tasted fresh and it didn’t burn, choke or leave a stale taste in the mouth like a cigarette.

Within minutes my partner in crime and I were laughing away, actually enjoying playing around with the pipe, impervious to how stupid we looked.

I did feel a little light-headed after a while, so we stopped. But I was happy.

And, of course, I did enjoy puffing smoke out and doing my best caterpillar impression: "Whooo are yoooou?"

The BHF - encouraging people to give up - said shisha smoking is a common sight on many High Streets and is on the rise.

Not so much in News Shopper land.

The Freedom of Information requests submitted by the BHF to councils in this area revealed just four premises licensed for shisha - three in Greenwich and one in Bromley - and those were granted in 2010.

We were very much on our jack at Sultan.

Clearly, bars aren’t the only place you can experience Shisha. So, I called a shop in Greenwich which specialises in its trade.

"It has not set the world alight," the guy on the phone told me. "It’s steadily getting more popular but it has not swept on like a craze."

Regardless of shisha’s popularity, what’s the harm? According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), shisha has been touted as safe since the 16th century because the smoke passes through water.

The WHO said that’s not true and shisha smoke retains all the bad, cancer-causing nastiness.

The BHF said an hour-long session could be equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes but that 14 per cent of people thought it was causing no harm and 45 per cent didn’t know it could contain tobacco.

Associate medical director at BHF, Dr Mike Knapton said: "Contrary to popular belief, shisha is not safer than smoking cigarettes.

"Don’t be duped by the sweet smell and wholesome sounding fruity flavours.

"If you use shisha you are a smoker and that means you’re putting your health at risk."

You would have to be a fool to sit smoking on your own for an hour. It is clearly a social thing and one I won’t be doing again for a long while.

It is clearly not healthy, but neither is having a skinfull of booze and a kebab every Friday and Saturday. So is it harmful enough to put people off a casual, occasional smoke?