Fewer smokers quit the habit

THE number of smokers kicking the habit dropped by almost a third last year compared with the previous year despite the NHS spending £7million more helping people quit.

A total of £33million went on stop-smoking services last year as opposed to £26million in 2007 - but the number of people quitting dropped by 32 per cent. It means 133,704 gave up smoking between last April and September at a cost of £244 per person, compared with £148 the previous year. The NHS said it was still "good value for money". It said there was a "spike" of 176,277 giving up in July 2007 with NHS help because of the ban on smoking in public places.