SMOKEY Sue will be in Ipswich town centre next week to encourage people to give up smoking.Wednesday marks No Smoking Day and health visitors will be in Tower Ramparts with Smokey Sue the doll in tow.

SMOKEY Sue will be in Ipswich town centre next week to encourage people to give up smoking.

Wednesday marks No Smoking Day and health visitors will be in Tower Ramparts with Smokey Sue the doll in tow.

Using the doll they can show smokers exactly what is happening to their insides through smoking.

They will also have meters to measure the amount of carbon monoxide being taken into people's bodies as well as mechanical smokers.

Stop Smoking Advisors will be at Suffolk College to give advice and also give Carbon Monoxide readings.

And at Otley College staff and students will be able to go to a manned stall as well as watch a presentation to help them kick the habit.

Stowmarket smokers can go to the Boots store in the town to get advice between 12.30pm and 2pm and they can also get their carbon monoxide levels tested.

Figures show that more than 9,000 people in the East of England have died from a smoking related disease in the last year.

The Suffolk Alliance Against Tobacco claim that a recent study showed that 61 per cent of smokers regretted starting because of their health but they also wanted to quit to save money, they did not like being addicted and were ashamed of the social stigma that is attached to smoking.

Sarah Freeman is the Tobacco Control Alliance Project Worker for Suffolk.

She said: "Smokers know that smoking can cause lung cancer, heart disease and all sorts of illnesses and this makes them want to stop.

"However, on a day to day basis, it's the smell, the mess, the expense and the feeling of being trapped that makes people want out of smoking.

"Quitting smoking puts more money in the pocket, cuts down on major diseases such as cancer and coronary heart disease and helps people live healthier lives."

More than 16,000 people set a date to stop smoking, through smoking cessation services, in the eastern region during 2002/3 and more than 60 per cent were still not smoking at the end of a four week period.

Between April and December last year 983 people in Suffolk quit smoking with the help of the Suffolk Stop Smoking Service.

n. NHS Smoking helpline – 0800 169 0 169.

N What was your tactic for quitting smoking? Write in to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk or visit the forum at www.eveningstar.co.uk