Smokers in part of the UK could get up to £400 to quit – are you eligible?
SMOKERS in one specific part of the UK could be offered up to £400 to quit - so are you eligible for the cash?
A pilot scheme to hand out a financial reward for smokers to quit is being considered by one rural council today.
Members of the public could get £200 each as an incentive to stop smoking, while pregnant women might even grab themselves £400.
The cash bribe is the idea of Cheshire East Council, who are considering the money pot to tackle the borough's high smoking rates.
Approximately 10.5 per cent of people in Chesire East smoke, and that rises to 10.8 per cent of pregnant women.
If scheme went ahead, councillors proposed that the £200 would be paid via three instalments to most people, whereas the £400 would be through five payments for pregnant women.
Read more in Health
But the smokers taking part would have to take exhaled carbon monoxide tests to prove they've actually stopped smoking.
An eye-watering budget of £116,500 has been proposed for the potential project - £95,000 from the ring-fenced public health grant and £21,500 from the Champs Public Health Collaborative.
Later today the council's health committee will discuss a report that references how every £1 invested in stopping smoking saves £10 in future health care costs.
It also states: “There is robust evidence that financial incentives increase smoking quit rates.
Most read in The Sun
"Evidence shows that people are around 50 per cent more likely to quit with incentives; furthermore, in pregnant women specifically, the likelihood of quitting is doubled.”
Quitting will also boost the profits of these lucky ex-smokers, who will save thousands by giving up cigarettes.
Someone who smokes five cigarettes a day is coughing up about £1,128 a year to pay for their unhealthy habit.
And that cost rises to £2,257 for 10 a day and £4,515 for someone smoking 20 a day, as reported by the .
The committee will discuss the proposal at today's meeting and then have to bring a formal decision report to its next meeting in July developing the plan or suggesting an alternative option.
