£4m spent stubbing out smokers' habits

Of those who turned to the NHS for advice on quitting between April 2014 and March 2015, a total of 11,438 successfully quit.

Up to £520 was spent on each smoker during the 12-month period.

Stop smoking services provided by councils included one-to-one support sessions, advice on nicotine replacement therapy such as gum and patches and a scheme for pregnant women and their families.

In Dudley, where there were 1,887 successful quitters, the total spend was £980,345.

Councillor Rachel Harris, Dudley Council's cabinet member for health and wellbeing said: "Smoking causes more preventable deaths than anything else and treating smoking related diseases is estimated to cost the NHS in Dudley £12.2 million and the NHS nationally £2 billion each year. With one in two smokers dying as a result of smoking, stopping is one of the best things they can do for their health.

"The Dudley Stop Smoking Service offers cost effective, high-quality, evidence-based stop smoking interventions. These are delivered by specialist advisors who provide expert advice, support and encouragement to help local people stop smoking for good.

"I'm proud of the success achieved by this service in Dudley. Supporting people to quit for good not only rapidly benefits their own health but also that of those around them."

In Sandwell the bill was £729,899 and 1,977 people gave up. Councillor Yvonne Davies, cabinet member for social care and health, said: "Sandwell Council currently provides free and specialist support to smokers wanting to quit or who are simply seeking information which will eventually aid their desire to quit smoking.

"In Sandwell the support available includes one-to-one counselling, group counselling, telephone support and home visits for people who are house-bound. The three approved medicines, used in helping to quit smoking, Champix, Zyban and Nicotine Replacement Therapy are either directly available from our service or on NHS prescription."

While Walsall Council spent £555,501 and 1,498 smokers managed to quit. In Wolverhampton a total of 881 people kicked the habit at a cost of £389,017.

Among the services offered by the city council help aimed at smoking cessation in pregnancy and new parents

It also uses Moo Moo, a youth marketing company, to focus on schools with known higher rates of smoking in young people.

The cost of stop smoking services in Staffordshire was £1,993,320 and with staff helping 5,195 people to give up.

One of the way the county council supports people wanting to quit is through its recently set up 'healthy hub' one stop advice service.

Cabinet member for health Councillor Alan White said: "One of our key priorities is to help people lead healthy and happier lives and the new Healthy Staffordshire Hub will give people the advice and support to help them do this."

Amounts spent per quitter ranged from £369 in Sandwell to £520 in Dudley.

The total spent across the area in 2014/15 was £4,648,082 which was down from 2012/13's figure of £6,173,000.