SIX out of ten people using the NHS Stop Smoking Service in Widnes and Runcorn managed to quit, according to the latest figures.

In the 12 months from April 2017 to March this year, 876 people in Halton signed up with the NHS Stop Smoking Service and set themselves a date to quit.

At follow up meetings four weeks later 523 people (60%) said they had given up, according to data from NHS England.

The figure is above the average rate for England which is at 51% and the average for the north west which is at 47%.

The success rate is based on self-reported results of people who said that they hadn't had a puff for two weeks since their quit date.

And 45% of those who set a date proved they had kicked the habit by having a test that checks carbon monoxide in their bloodstream.

The Stop Smoking Service has been provided by local authorities rather than the NHS since 2013.

It offers support with one-to-one counselling or group sessions.

Medicines that help with nicotine cravings can also be prescribed while some people also use over the counter products.

The data shows that ten quitters succeeded with a cold turkey approach with no chemical substitutes for cigarettes.

The total cost of the service in Halton was £213,659, which is equivalent to £409 for each person that quit.

Latest figures from Public Health England show that 15% of the adult population of Halton are smokers.

The number of people using the service across the country has been falling and it went down compared to the previous 12 month period in Halton.

The campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) says that the popularity of e-cigarettes as an aid to quitting explains some of the decline in users of the service across England but not all of it.

They say tighter council budgets, less publicity nationally about services and an apparent reduction in GPs prompting people to take up the service may also be to blame.

Hazel Cheeseman, Director of Policy at ASH, said: "We want to see investment going back into funding these services through local authorities. We need the NHS to step up in its referral of people to stop smoking services and we’d like to see greater investment in mass media campaigns to make smokers aware of these services."

The data shows that in Halton, men had more success than women with 63% quitting compared to 57% of women.

The services also record if women were pregnant when they signed up and the figures show that 44% of them managed to stop smoking.

Older people had a higher quit rate than younger ones. In Halton the most successful age group was 60 and over with a success rate of 72%. For 18 to 34-year-olds it was 47%.