Smokers have been given a picture of things to come by stepping on board a bus kitted out with nicotine-busting technology.

Passers-by in Broad Street, Oxford, stopped for advice on how to quit tobacco, at the start of a tour of Oxfordshire by the NHS Quit for Life Battle Bus.

And they also tested out specialist computer software designed to demonstrate how smokers would look in 10, 20 or even 30 years if they continued to light up.

The NHS Quit for Life Battle Bus is touring the county over the coming weeks as part of a £1m campaign and NHS bosses are hoping the 'age progression technology' will give people an added incentive to stop smoking. Yesterday the bus moved on to Bicester Market Square.

Val Messenger, Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust deputy director of public health, smoked for 15 years.

She explained how the photographic software enables the Quit for Life team to show how someone would look in the future if they continued to smoke and also how they would look if they stopped tomorrow, adding: "People have heard the messages for years about the health impacts of smoking, but we wanted a slightly different take to see if we could get to people we don't always attract.

"We want to help the 70 per cent of smokers who want help, not the hardened smokers who aren't ready to give up.

"Smoking can also affect your gums, so your teeth might not look so healthy, and might even fall out, while staining from cigarettes can make them discoloured."

A nicotine habit is the prime cause of many terminal illnesses and causes more than 1,150 deaths in Oxfordshire annually.

According to the PCT, there are 10m smokers in England, of which only three per cent will quit without receiving any help.

Within 10 years of stopping smoking, however, an ex-smoker's risk of developing lung cancer is only slightly greater than that of someone who has never smoked before.

The NHS hopes the Quit for Life Battle Bus will attract many of the county's estimated 126,000 smokers - a quarter of the adult population. Anyone stepping aboard will be offered help, support and encouragement from trained advisors. Smokers also have the chance to record the carbon monoxide levels in their blood.

Not everyone was happy to see the Quit for Life team in Broad Street on Monday.

City centre PCSOs appeared on the scene at 11.15am after a man began shouting abuse at staff. He was issued with a warning.