More want to quit

10:41am Tuesday 15th August 2006

QUIT smoking NHS advisors in North Yorkshire are gearing up for a significant influx of people wanting to kick the habit when it is banned in English pubs next year.

Already this year, the primary care trust-run North Yorkshire Stop Smoking Service is aiming to get 4,635 people across the county to give up the habit for at least a month - under a target set by the Government.

Now service staff are expecting increased numbers of people to ask for their help in quitting cigarettes ahead of the smoking ban, due to come into force in the summer of 2007.

Service co-ordinator Margaret Hewitson said: "Looking at the Irish and Scottish experience, they've just gone through the ban - their service saw an increased number of people who wanted to stop.

"Already people in our groups are saying it (the smoking ban) will help them to stop.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised (if we saw) increased interest from January."

MPs voted in February to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces in England, which includes pubs, restaurants and nightclubs.

The move follows similar bans in Ireland and Scotland.

In March 2004, Ireland was the first country in the world to prohibit smoking in most workplaces, including restaurants and bars.

In Scotland, smokers took their last puff in the pub in March, before a total public places ban came into effect on March 26.

The ban is also due to come into effect in Wales next summer, and in April in Northern Ireland.

Now North Yorkshire Stop Smoking Service is working on a "ban plan" - ways of boosting support for people who want to stub out cigarettes.

Ms Hewitson said these proposals were still in the "very early stages".

Across North Yorkshire the service has helped 10,630 people to kick cigarettes for a period of at least a month over the last three years.

It runs group clinics over a period of several weeks to help people give up.

The Press teamed up with Selby and York Primary Care Trust in May last year to launch the Yes! To Clean Air campaign to stamp out smoking in the workplace.

Since then dozens of businesses have signed up to make their premises smoke-free.

Companies wanting further information on the Yes! To Clean Air Campaign should call 01904 724116.

For help giving up smoking, call the North Yorkshire Stop Smoking Service on 01904 663310.

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