NEW figures suggest smokers in the North-East are making more successful quit attempts than elsewhere in the country.

In the run up to No Smoking Day tomorrow, research highlighted by Fresh suggests that smokers in the region have a better quit success rate than the national average. The figures come from the Smoking Toolkit Study from University College London, which tracked smoking and quit attempts for ten years from 2008 to 2017.

It shows that in the past decade in the North-East, around 18.3 per cent of people who tried to quit smoking were still not smoking, compared with 15.7 per cent of people nationally. The figures for 2017 were 19.7 per cent versus 17.7 per cent.

Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh, said: “We are urging people to never give up on quitting. It is great to see the figures showing smokers in the North-East actually have a better chance at quitting – and we have had the biggest fall in smoking since 2005, but we’re also suggesting some of the most effective ways to stop.”

Fresh is encouraging smokers who cannot stop using other methods to consider switching completely to an e-cigarette. And whether or not smokers use an e-cigarette they are strongly advised to get professional support from their local Stop Smoking Service, GP, pharmacist or call the National Smokefree Helpline on 0300-1231044.