FEWER Bromsgrove residents smoke than almost anywhere else in the entire West Midlands, new figures have revealed.
Only around one in nine people - 10.8% - in the district light up compared to 13.9% nationally and 14.1% across the West Midlands as a whole.
The figures were collated by Vape Club in a campaign to encourage smoking cessation, and sourced from official Public Health England figures released in July.
Bromsgrove sits 26th out of 30 locations West Midlands-wise - with only Worcester, Redditch, South Staffordshire and Lichfield having a lower rate of smokers regionally.
And the district is 231st nationally out of 315, making its smoking rate well below average.
The worst offending district in the West Midlands is Tamworth, with 19.4% of the population smoking, followed by Stoke-on-Trent (18.2%) and Cannock Chase (17.6%).
Malvern Hills (11.6%) is the worst-offending district in Worcestershire - which is by far the cleanest Midlands county smoking-wise with its six districts all in the bottom eight regionally.
The data reveals a detailed look at where smoking remains an issue and how successful NHS services have been able to encourage smoking cessation − the ‘quit rate’.
Looking to stem the habit, NHS services across the West Midlands recorded a 1.12% ‘quit rate’ – far below the average achieved across England (1.89%).
The West Midlands has the lowest quit rate out of all regions in England with Worcestershire's rate - 0.12% - among the worst.
Dan Marchant, smoking cessation expert and Director of Vape Club, said: “More and more people are starting to see that vaping offers a game-changing alternative to traditional smoking cessation methods.
"Figures show that vaping is actually twice as effective as other nicotine replacement products, and it is fantastic to see organisations such as Public Health England and the NHS embracing this public health breakthrough.
"However, there is clearly still a long way to go in getting the vaping message out to the millions of people still smoking in England.”
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