Peterborough has one of the worst smoker quit rates in England

Nearly two-thirds of people in Peterborough on a programme to quit smoking failed to kick the habit – one of the highest rates in England.

NHS Digital data shows 999 people on the NHS Stop Smoking Service in the area set a date to quit between April and December last year.

At follow-up meetings held a month later, 374 said they had given up – at just 37 per cent, this was one of the worst outcomes in the country.

The rate dropped to 28 per cent when only counting those who confirmed this with a test to measure carbon monoxide levels in their bloodstream, which indicates tobacco use.

Someone is counted as having quit if they report that two weeks after their quit date they are no longer taking a puff.

Across England as a whole, the self-reported rate was 51 per cent, although this decreased to 36 per cent for those tested.

The charity Action on Smoking and Health said the variation in the support smokers can receive across the country “is not good enough”.

A spokeswoman for the group said: “All smokers deserve support to quit and for many it can make the difference between success and failure.

“However, good services need funding and national government has repeatedly cut the public health budget.

“We are now in the midst of a respiratory pandemic with the biggest impacts being felt by the most disadvantaged, and while local authorities are doing their best, if we’re to ensure that all smokers get the help they need, those cuts to the public health budget must be reversed.”

In Peterborough, £206,400 was allocated for stop smoking services in 2019-20, excluding the cost of medicines.

This was down from £221,113 in 2014-15, the earliest period with comparable data.

The programme usually includes support such as group therapy or one-to-one counselling, although these have been suspended due to the coronavirus.

Rachael Hodges, senior policy officer at the British Lung Foundation, said: “While face-to-face support has come to a halt due to Covid-19, many stop smoking services are continuing to provide behavioural support and stop smoking treatment remotely.

“We’d urge anyone looking to quit to search online for NHS smoke-free to find support near them.”

In Peterborough, men were about as successful as women at spurning cigarettes, with 38 per cent quitting compared to 37 per cent of women.

Across the nation as a whole, the figure stood at 53 per cent for men and 50 per cent for women.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said smoking rates were at a record low level of 14.4 per cent across the country.

She added: “However, we are not complacent and our ambition is for England to become a smoke-free society by 2030."