THE numbers of people smoking in Wirral have reduced at more than twice the national average, with numbers of pregnant women smoking also down.

The local authority said it is “delighted” at the results set to be discussed at a council meeting on Thursday, with the figures also better than that of the North West average.

According to the report presented to members of the environment overview and scrutiny committee, smoking prevalence in the borough has reduced from 18.9% to 15.7%, more than double the improvement of the national average. It said while that figure is still slightly below the overall average for smoking prevalence, “we’re closing the gap at a fast rate."

The report also said the proportion of women smoking at time of delivery has reduced from 13.9% at the start of the plan to 12%, and is also improving at a “much faster rate” than the national average.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Wirral Council’s cabinet member for adult care and health, Cllr Chris Jones, said: “Wirral council fully supports efforts to reduce the number of people smoking, make more places smoke-free and support those addicted to tobacco to quit.

“We work with A Better Life (ABL) which is contracted by us to help residents quit smoking.

“The ABL Wirral team has helped more than 5,000 people on their quit journey since the service began in April 2016.

“These figures show our efforts to help people quit smoking are working, but we must not be complacent – smoking is still the single greatest risk factor for poor health and early death in Wirral.”

According to the report, provisional figures for 2017-18 show 1,341 smokers accessing the specialist stop smoking service had not restarted smoking after four weeks, also a “significant improvement” on previous years.

Cllr Jones added: “One in five people in Wirral still smoke, and those in our most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to smoke than people in the least deprived areas.

“Anyone looking for support to quit can contact their local stop smoking service ABL Wirral to receive free, confidential advice and support that can help you quit tobacco for good.”

The report, entitled ‘Wirral residents live healthier lives’, also discussed efforts to cut down on alcohol consumption in the borough.

It said 83 shops had taken on the ‘Reducing the Strength’ project criteria, meaning super strength lager and cider was no longer being sold in Birkenhead town centre, with the scheme now being spread out to other areas including Rock Ferry, New Ferry, Seacombe and Poulton.

For help in quitting smoking, you can contact ABL Wirral on 0151 541 5656, by texting ABL to 60777 or e-mailing wiccg.ablwirral@nhs.net.