More than half of smokers in five east London boroughs successfully quit over a 12-month period, according to data.

Figures from the NHS's Stop Smoking Services in England between April 2021 and March 2022 found nationally 54.8 per cent of people reported they successfully quit.

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Of those successfully quitting, 6.8 per cent had their results confirmed by carbon monoxide verification.

Barking and Dagenham had the second highest success rate among east London boroughs with 59 per cent of smokers quitting, behind Hackney at 60 per cent, according to the self-reported data.

Tower Hamlets was next at 57pc.

Redbridge and Havering followed with 56pc and 55pc respectively.

In both Newham and Waltham Forest, less than half of smokers said they had successfully quit at 49pc.

In December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released data which showed the proportion of smokers in the UK fell to its lowest level on record in 2021.

The ONS figures found that 13.3pc of people aged 18 and over in the UK smoked cigarettes in that year, the equivalent of around 6.6 million people.

This is the lowest proportion of current smokers since records started in 2011, when it stood at 20.2pc.

Additional reporting by PA.