Health workers are preparing for an increase in quitters after the smoking ban comes into force next month.

There are only 30 days to go before it becomes illegal to light up in enclosed public places and smokers are forced to go outside for a cigarette, from Sunday, July 1.

As a result, Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust has increased its smoking cessation funding by more than 10 per cent.

PCT managers had already set aside £536,000 to help people quit during 2007/8, and have now injected an extra £61,000 into the pot. The cash will fund more trained cessation workers in time for the winter months, when experts predict to see a rise in people quitting their habit.

Smoking cessation specialist Xanthe Bevis said: "The hope is that the introduction of the smoking ban will help save the overall number of lives because smoke-free environments will cut passive smoking.

"But the law may also help reduce smoking prevalence by four per cent as people decide to give up as a result.

"We think that by November and December there will be more interest in our services because people will be fed up of going outside in the cold for a cigarette."

Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust said it will not prescribe a new drug which stops quitters craving nicotine until it is officially approved later this year.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which decides which therapies and drugs should be funded by PCTs, gave Champix the thumbs-up today, subject to appeal.