'It's scary how much we were spending on smoking'

Samantha and Greg have both given up smoking after taking Varenicline

A couple from Cornwall have spoken of their pride at finally managing to kick their smoking habits after more than two decades.

Greg Underwood, 40, started smoking when he was 12 and his partner Samantha Street, 37, had her first cigarette when she was 13.

The pair, who live in St Keverne, were prescribed a new drug by the council's Healthy Cornwall team to help them quit and have now been smoke-free for nearly seven weeks.

Ms Street said: "Every time I bought another pouch of tobacco, I'd cringe and think that's half a week's worth of shopping. It's scary how much we were spending."

The council urged people to give up for "Stoptober" - saying those who use local support services were three times as likely to succeed.

Mr Underwood and Ms Street said they had tried and failed in the past to give up but had succeeded after being given Varenicline, a daily tablet given over a few months, to alter their bodies' response to cigarettes.

An improved version of the drug, which fights cravings, has been available on the NHS since last year.

Ms Street said: "It basically retrains your brain to not want to smoke anymore.

"Without it, I don't think I would have got this far at all."

She said the cost of smoking had been one of the biggest factors in her drive to give up - and they had now been able to afford gym memberships.

'Couldn't be happier'

Mr Underwood said he had started to feel chest pains over recent years and had wanted to become healthier.

"I wish I never started it in the first place. I've hated it, particularly for the last 20-odd years. I got to the point where I just accepted it was me," he said.

"To be able to say enough's enough and push it to one side, I couldn't be happier. I'm hugely proud that I've actually managed to do it.

"I'm the only one in my entire family that smokes. I don't think any of them expected me to be able to stop."

Councillor Thalia Marrington said people's stories of giving up smoking were "inspiring"

Cornwall Council said more than half of the 3,677 people who had come to its Healthy Cornwall service for help last year had managed to quit within a month.

Councillor Thalia Marrington, the council's portfolio holder for community safety and public health, said: "It's inspiring to hear the difference quitting has made to people's lives.

"One resident told us they were able to afford Christmas presents for their family for the first time, which is a huge achievement.

"While we all know smoking damages health, the benefits of quitting are much wider than that."

Eunan O'Neill, Cornwall's director for public health, said: "Smokers who use local stop smoking services are up to three times more likely to succeed than those who go it alone.

"Healthy Cornwall offers a range of options, from text messaging and phone support to online tools and on-to-one sessions, so people can find the approach that works best for them."