SMUGGLED and cheap cigarettes from abroad are causing a headache for groups trying to help Suffolk people quit smoking it has been revealed.Health professionals running anti-smoking clinics in the region claim that easy access to ports means easy access to cut price cigarettes and tobacco.

SMUGGLED and cheap cigarettes from abroad are causing a headache for groups trying to help Suffolk people quit smoking it has been revealed.

Health professionals running anti-smoking clinics in the region claim that easy access to ports means easy access to cut price cigarettes and tobacco.

And Hilary Andrews from the Ipswich Smoking Cessation group said that while cheap cigarettes sometimes stop people quitting, counterfeit cigarettes also caused problems as they did not contain proper tobacco and can be even more harmful to health than the real thing.

Mrs Andrews said that some people used the cost of smoking as a reason to give up, but if cigarettes are cheaper they find it harder to give up.

She said: "There is a huge market in cheap cigarettes.

"For some people the reason for quitting because of cost is not such an issue.

"We do know that a good proportion of the people we support to quit have not paid full price for their tobacco.

"They might have gone and got it from abroad themselves or they are getting it from friends or friends of friends.

"There is an issue with this in this area."

As well as causing health problems because people have less of a reason to quit, Mrs Andrews said counterfeit cigarettes were also a major concern.

She advised smokers only to buy cigarettes from shops and not at car boot sales or on the street.

She said: "Counterfeit cigarettes are really dangerous to your health.

"It is not true tobacco and there are much more chemicals in them than normal tobacco.

"The stuff in it is really like the floor sweepings – it's very, very dangerous."

Mrs Andrews said that people would be able to tell whether they are counterfeit by the taste, because it they taste so horrible.