NEARLY twice as many North-East smokers in the region are quitting compared to people in London, according to new statistics.

The official figures, released by the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre, put the North-East out in front when it comes to quitting smoking.

The best figures in the region have been achieved by Stop Smoking services run within County Durham and Tees Valley.

During the period from April 204 to March 2005, County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority had 1,212 quitters out of 21,195 people that set a quit date.

Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Health Authority took second place after helped 994 out of 23,047 people successfully stop smoking after setting a quite date.

Taken together, the North-East had 1,092 successful quitters per 100,000 of the population aged 16 and over, higher than the next best region, the North-West, which had 949 per 100,000.

The worst performers were in London, which had 612 quitters.

Within the strategic health authority covering North Yorkshire 666 per 100,000 of the population gave up smoking.

Ailsa Rutter, director of the Fresh Campaign for a Smoke Free North East said: "As a region we should be extremely proud of this success to date, particularly as we have a relatively small population and therefore proportionally smaller resources, so this is testament to the hard work that our local Stop Smoking Services put in every year.

"The focus now is building upon this in 2006, for the North East still has some of the highest rates of smoking in the UK and in turn some of the highest rates of related diseases such as cancer, stroke and heart disease.

"The good news is that there are a number of ways to beat the craving.Nicotine replacement therapy, as well as a range of other quitting techniques, are available from hospitals and health centres to surgeries and drop in clinics. Where there is the will, we can definitely find a way to suit the individual."

The results are reported in a document entitled 'Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services in England, April 2004 to March 2005', published by NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre.

To access your local NHS Stop Smoking Service, phone 0800 169 0 169, visit www.givingupsmoking.com or text Give Up with their full postcode to 88088