£3.9m plan to help 22,000 smokers to quit by 2030

Council to expand cessation services 'to lead to a healthier, and wealthier city'

- Phil Corrigan

COUNCIL chiefs have agreed to spend up to £3.9 million on an expanded stop-smoking service with the aim of getting around 22,000 people to quit by 2030.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is looking to commission a universal smoking cessation service in order to dramatically increase the number of people giving up tobacco.

The council's current service is aimed at specific at-risk groups such as pregnant women and people with mental health conditions. While 736 Stoke-on-Trent residents quit smoking a year, this is far below the rate of 4,375-a-year which would allow the city to hit the government's target of reducing smoking prevalence to five per cent by 2030.

Latest figures show that 13 per cent of Stoke-on-Trent's adult population smokes, equating to around 26,000 people.