People in Staffordshire who smoke but want support to give up the habit have been reminded that help is at hand.

In Staffordshire it is estimated that 13.9% of adults still smoke with many wishing they could give up.

Staffordshire County Council's Public Health team is working with Everyone Health Staffordshire to remind people of the range of help and support available.

Free telephone support sessions, advice on managing cravings and access to medication are being made available to anyone aged 40 or over living in Staffordshire.

The support is being highlighted as part of this year's national Stoptober campaign starting on Thursday 1st October to encourage people to quit smoking.

Dr Johnny McMahon, Staffordshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Health, Care and Wellbeing said: "This is a really effective campaign which over the years has helped many thousands of people in Staffordshire to quit smoking.

"We know that giving up can be incredibly difficult, especially to give them up for good. But as we've seen through previous Stoptober campaigns, and with support from Everyone Health Staffordshire it can be done. We just want to remind people that they are not on their own and there is professional help to support them.

"We also know from previous research that people who can give up smoking for 28 days are five times more likely to quit for good, so that's another good reason to join others and have a go."

Bethany Albutt, Service Manager from Everyone Health Staffordshire is also encouraging people to get in touch with the service. Bethany said: "If you are a smoker, quitting is the best thing you can do for your health and the health of those around you.

"We offer free, one-to-one telephone support sessions, which are tailored for each individual. We can advise on choosing a suitable stop smoking medication and how to manage cravings and withdrawal symptoms, to enable long term behaviour changes. All stop smoking medication that we provide is free of charge too."

According to research by the UCL Smoking Tool Kit Study, compared to 2019 the proportion of smokers in England making a quit attempt has increased from 29% to 35% (an increase of almost a quarter). The success rate for people giving up smoking has also risen from 14% to 23%.

It's also estimated that 1 million people in the UK quit smoking during the coronavirus lockdown, with the smoking prevalence among adults now at a record low of 13.9%.

People interested in quitting can find out more about the support available by visiting the Everyone Health Staffordshire website. The service also supports women in pregnancy to quit smoking.

People can also search 'Stoptober' online to find a range of free quitting support including the Stoptober app, Facebook messenger bot, daily emails and access to the Stoptober online communities.