MORE than 23,000 people have stopped smoking in the region, including Worcestershire, this month for "Stoptober".

The figures, which include county quitters, were supplied by Public Health England who have been promoting the 28-day stop smoking challenge which ended on Tuesday (October 28).

They joined over 250,000 people around the country who stubbed out their cigarettes in the nation’s biggest mass quit attempt.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics reveals that the number of smokers in the West Midlands has hit a record low, with smokers accounting for only 17.8 per cent of the population in 2013 , a drop of 1.1 per cent compared to 2012.

A more local breakdown containing Worcestershire figures is not available yet but is due to be published in the next few days.

According to UCL’s Smoking Toolkit Study, smoking rates are continuing to fall in 2014. Those who successfully took part in Stoptober and didn’t smoke for 28 days are now five times more likely to remain smokefree, contributing to the growing numbers of non-smokers in the region.

This year’s campaign had a comedy theme for the first time, to help smokers get through the difficult challenge of quitting, and over 250 organisations such as Asda and the British Army as well as football clubs and bloggers got thousands of people stay smokefree for 28 days.

Dr Lola Abudu, public health consultant for PHE West Midlands, said: “Not only are these people feeling a whole lot healthier after 28 days smokefree, but they are five times more likely to stay quit for good. With smoking rates now at an all-time low, the number of people participating in Stoptober just goes to show how keen those people who still smoke are to quit."