HUNDREDS of smokers in Bolton kicked the habit for a month in the first ever mass quit attempt.

Stoptober — launched by the Department of Health in October — resulted in 60 smokers in Bolton quitting the habit for good out of the 346 who took part.

Organisers say another success of the campaign was the message and support given to smokers.

Stop smoking services manager Adrian Butterworth, from Crompton Health Centre, said: “As a result of Stoptober there was a lot more talk in the community about quitting smoking. It’s always great to raise awareness of stopping smoking — especially ahead of January, which is the most popular season to quit.

“I cannot say we had a huge increase of people coming through our doors, but the idea was to give smokers the impetus to actually quit smoking.”

As part of the month-long campaign, smokers were given a free preparation pack, a calendar and a “health and wealth” wheel.

More than quarter of a million people signed up to quit for Stoptober across the UK, which has been hailed as a big success by the Department of Health.

Health minister Anna Soubry said: “It has exceeded our expectations. We know that most smokers want to give up, which is why we must keep encouraging them to make that step. I congratulate everyone who gave up for Stoptober — it’s a fantastic achievement. They are five times more likely to give up for good after 28 days and I hope they will.”

Across the UK, 268,083 people registered for the campaign and 484,043 support items were ordered. Smokers also received support through a daily messaging service, inspiration from celebrity mentors, and expert advice via a Stoptober app, motivational text messages and a Facebook page.

As result, 199,135 stop smoking packs were ordered, 205,885 people downloaded the app and 72,347 people registered for the text service.

Bev Bannister, one of The Bolton News’ advertising account managers, was among those who took in the Stopober campaign.

She managed to quit for three-and-a-half weeks. She said: “I did end up starting again. I think I would give the campaign a seven out of 10. You get a very nice pretty pack at the start, but you are pretty much left to it on your own. There are just certain triggers that make you want a cigarette. It’s just part of the habit. Although I am going to try and quit again in the New Year.”