WARRINGTON smokers are being urged to join a month-long national campaign which helps residents kick the habit.

LiveWire Warrington will be offering extra help and support this 'Stoptober' to mark the nationwide stop smoking campaign.

Smoking remains the largest cause of preventable death in England, and LiveWire provides free specialist stop smoking support and advice to people in the Warrington area.

Quit rates in 2017/18 were the best on record for the service with the number of tobacco users in Warrington well below the national average at 12.8 per cent.

The focus on this year’s Stoptober campaign is making sure all residents and employees are aware of LiveWire’s service which includes telephone support, face to face and online options, as well as requesting stop smoking products to be issued via prescription from GPs and information on electronic cigarettes.

A number of public drop-in events have also been planned across Warrington throughout October.

The next will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, from 10am utnil 1pm in Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub on Jubilee Way.

Ruth Armstrong, lifestyle officer at Lead Smoke-Free, said: “LiveWire is here to help throughout the year, but the national 28-day-challenge of Stoptober is a brilliant opportunity for Warrington residents to get increased support to ditch the cigarettes and switch to an alternative or even quit completely.

“Most people will know about the health benefits to quitting, but often forget about the financial benefits, with 20 cigarettes a day now costing an average of £3,139 a year, which is a lot for an individual to fork out for, let alone a family."