NEEDLES helped him to kick the habit - now he is getting his staff to give them a go too.

Kevin Ingram, who runs a veterinary equipment supply company in York, has managed to leave cigarettes behind with the help of treatment at the Northern College of Acupuncture in Micklegate, York.

Kevin, 54, was so impressed with the treatment he has decided to allow his employees to get some too - and he is prepared to let them go during work time.

Kevin said: "I'd given up smoking on and off a number of times, but never kept to it and at the end of February my wife, Jacqui, said she was going to try acupuncture.

"I hate needles, but I thought if we started together we could support one another. At the first session the acupuncturist put needles in my hands, wrists, feet and ankles and left me for 20 minutes. I just lay there thinking this is ridiculous, it's never going to work.' But from that moment on the real craving to have a cigarette disappeared. Most of the time I tend to forget that I ever smoked.

"Jacqui and I haven't had a cigarette now for four months and I felt so inspired by my experience that I wanted to give my staff the chance to try it too."