Successful Stoptober as district smokers fall below national average

During the national campaign, run throughout October to encourage and support people who want to quit smoking, the Berkshire-wide smokefreelife Berkshire service saw twice as many visits than during the campaign last year.
Meanwhile, figures showed that the percentage of people who had managed to kick the habit had dropped from 18.8 per cent in 2012 to 15.4 per cent in 2014.
The national average is just over 18 per cent.
West Berkshire Council’s executive member for public health, Marcus Franks (Con, Speen), said: “People in Berkshire are choosing to take control of their health.
“Smoking is clearly a habit that many people are keen to kick.
“The smokefreelife Berkshire target is to help five thousand in Berkshire to stop smoking by the end of March 2015.
“Of that figure, the target for West Berkshire is eight hundred and forty and it is expected that this figure will be exceeded.”