Stoptober campaigning kicks off with contributions from top comics

Public Health England has commenced its efforts to get people involved in this year's Stoptober smoking cessation campaign for 2014.

Leading British comedians such as Paddy McGuinness, Al Murray, Simon Brodkin and Andi Osho will be helping to publicise this year's initiative, which will commence on October 1st and runs for 28 days.

A three-minute series of televised sketches were aired on September 8th to raise awareness of Stoptober, with the next three weeks to be dedicated to recruiting as many smokers as possible to give up the habit for four weeks in October.

The Stoptober project is based on scientific evidence that if a smoker can go 28 days without a cigarette, they are five times more likely to stay permanently smoke-free.

Chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said: "Stoptober has proved itself to be a fantastic platform for people to quit and offers all the support that smokers may need to take the first step to stopping for good."

The first Stoptober event was held in 2012. It returned in 2013 to even greater success, with 250,000 people taking part, of whom 65 per cent successfully abstained from smoking for the entire month.