SERVICES that help people quit smoking in the South West are "under threat" because of budget cuts, experts have warned.

Cancer Research UK and the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) found 57 per cent of local authorities in the region were forced to reduce their budgets last year.

Cuts to public health spending have put "enormous pressure" on councils, which are required to deliver these services, the organisations say.

Around half of local authorities surveyed in the region said tobacco control was a high priority for them.

Cancer Research UK, which has launched a campaign Don't Quit on Us, said smokers were three times more likely to quit when they used specialist smoking cessation services.

However 86 per cent of councils in the region have cut their budgets for other tobacco control work such as tackling the illegal tobacco market and preventing young people from taking up smoking.

Smoking is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK and is linked to 14 different types of the disease including most lung cancers – the leading cause of cancer deaths in the South West. In the region, 15.5 per cent of people smoke.

The authors of the report are calling people to email their local councillors and ask them to help put pressure on the Government to solve the funding crisis in public health.

Jenny Makin, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for the South West, said: “The figures released today expose the terrible financial pressures facing councils across the region.

“Losing Stop Smoking Services is bad news – for the smoker, for councils and for the NHS.

“We’re not just talking about numbers on a balance sheet. Smoking is a lethal addiction - less money to help people stop could be a matter of life or death.

“We have a vision for the future: a tobacco-free South West where, by 2035, fewer than one in 20 adults in the region smoke. If we are to realise this ambition, then it’s vital to help smokers quit by ensuring that the most effective route – through a Stop Smoking Service – receives continued investment."

Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of ASH, added: “Our research shows that most local authorities remain committed to reducing smoking but key services are under threat from ongoing funding cuts. Meanwhile, the tobacco industry continues to reap huge profits from a product that kills around 100,000 people every year in the UK and is responsible for half the difference in life expectancy between the rich and the poor.

“If the Prime Minister is to succeed in her ambition to improve the life chances of the poorest in society the government must take action to ensure that local authorities have the tools and the funding they need to continue to provide specialist stop smoking services as part of a tobacco control strategy targeted at those with greatest need.”

For more information go to cruk.org/dontquitonus