THE number of smokers successfully kicking the habit in Oxfordshire has fallen by nearly half.

New figures reveal the number of people who managed to stop smoking through NHS services fell from 2,770 in the 2013/14 financial year to 1,429 in 2014/15.

That represents a 48 per cent drop in people who have stopped smoking tobacco products of any kind for four weeks or more, using NHS help.

Oxfordshire also has the lowest proportion of pregnant women kicking the habit in the South East despite Oxfordshire Public Health investing £980,000 in smoking cessation services this financial year.

Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for public health, Hilary Hibbert-Biles, said some of the apparent drop in quitting could be attributed to more smokers switching to e-cigarettes, which are not provided on the NHS.

She added: “Given the number of serious smoking-related diseases, it is essential to help people understand the dangers and we continually strive to do so.

“While it is estimated that e-cigarettes are approximately 95 per cent less harmful than tobacco, there is no information about the longer term effects of their use.

“We recognise that if someone chooses to use e-cigarettes rather than tobacco as a way to reduce and eventually stop their dependence on nicotine, this is beneficial for their health.

“But currently national policy does not recommend their provision through stop-smoking services.”

Latest figures show the proportion of the population who smoked in Oxfordshire in 2014 was 13.6 per cent, down from nearly 20 per cent in 2010.

That means there are still about 90,589 smokers in the county, based on the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) 2013 estimate.

In a report to the county’s Health Improvement Partnership Board which will be discussed today, the NHS says there are no plans to start funding e-cigarettes.

The county is investing £500,000 of its smoking cessation budget on outreach and support services, £150,000 on GP cessation services and £30,000 on pharmacy services.

The county’s public health budget includes £285,000 for nicotine replacement therapies such as gum, patches, inhalers or lozenges.

Local e-cigarette suppliers said they have seen a massive rise in sales since January because of smokers wanting to quit in the new year.

Denise Horne, co-owner of Purple Haze, in Banbury Road, Kidlington, said a lot of her customers say they tried nicotine replacement therapies but they had not worked.

She added: “A high percentage say e-cigarettes work for them.”

Smoker Richard Hayes said if the number of smokers was dropping then it was natural for the number of people quitting to fall.

The 67-year-old from Rose Hill added: “I imagine that people who were going to give up have given up already and you’re left with people like me.”