More than 123,000 Midlanders are expected to try and quit smoking, according to a study.
Professor Robert West, a tobacco control expert, found that as January is the most popular month to try and stub out smoking, the equivalent of every adult in Telford and Wrekin would try to give up from yesterday.
His study, which looks at trends in smoking cessation since October 2006, found one in eight smokers in Britain tried to give up their habit last January.
Its publication coincides with a new NHS campaign to promote the support available to give quitters the best possible chance of success. The Getting Off Cigarettes adverts, which feature cityscapes dotted with giant cigarettes, runs until March.
Paul Hooper, regional tobacco policy manager for the West Midlands, said: "We know that when people have tried to stop smoking that they can find it difficult to resist temptation when they visit smoky places.
"I hope that this year those who resolve to quit for the New Year will be find it easier to stay stopped for good"
In the West Midlands, a total of 27,782 smokers set a quit date with their local NHS Stop Smoking Service between January and March 2007.
Of those 14,998 (54 per cent) successfully quit at four weeks. n A free Get Support DVD about help is available from the NHS on 0800 917 6699
