A BOLTON nurse is issuing an SOS call for people in Bolton to protect vital Stop Smoking Services in the the town.

Jessica Turner, a former pupil at Turton High School, from Harwood, is lending her voice to Cancer Research UK’s ‘Don’t Quit On Us’ campaign.

It aims to mobilise local government to help protect the town from funding cuts which put lives in Bolton at risk.

The smoking cessation provision faces £46,000 loss in funding from Bolton Council as part of proposed budget cuts over the next two years.

According to Action on Smoking & Health, Bolton has a smoking rate above the England average — around 18.5 per cent of people in the the town smoke — and Cancer Research UK believe the impact could be 'devastating and cost the NHS millions'.

Mrs Turner, a Senior Cancer Awareness Nurse, works on the Cancer Research UK’s Cancer Awareness Roadshow touring towns and cities in the North West offering information to help encourage people to make healthy lifestyle changes.

She is calling for the public to email their local councillors and ask them to help protect crucial stop smoking services.

She said: "It’s deeply concerning that smoking rates in Bolton remain so high.

"If the Government is serious about tackling cancer then marking councils’ public health budgets for substantial cuts is short-sighted. The work of local authorities like Bolton Council is vital — they are on the frontline helping people stop smoking and ultimately they are helping to save lives.

"Now we need as many councillors as possible to support our call to protect Stop Smoking Services and show the Government that we aren’t about to let them quit on us."

The council fund the Smoking Cessation service based at Royal Bolton Hospital which delivers in a mix of drop in sessions and appointments around the town and has been running since 1999.

Last year 1,812 people accessed stop smoking services which include community quit sessions, one-to-one therapy, hospital inpatient support and pregnancy, pharmacy and GP services.

A council spokesman said: "The council’s latest round of savings proposals have gone out for consultation and we welcome the views of our partners and stakeholders. Cuts to council funding are imposed centrally and we have to make some difficult choices in order to meet the necessary savings.

"We value the work of our stop-smoking services in Bolton, however they are part of a range of public health and wider council services — many of which are statutory — that are competing for funding."