Residents are being encouraged to give up smoking to coincide with No Smoking Day on Wednesday, March 14.

West Middlesex Hospital wants smokers to join its stop smoking walk-in clinic, which is open every Wednesday from 4.45pm to 5.45pm in the outpatients department chest clinic and provides advice and medication to help people quit.

Eva Gates, stop smoking service co-ordinator, said: “We want the clinic to help as many people as possible because smoking is such a big cause of disease and health problems.”

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust is also running a series of events to help smokers with mental health problems quit the habit.

Drop-in clinics will be held on Wednesday, March 14, at Barnes’ Castlenau Community Centre between 10am and 2pm, and at Richmond Royal Hospital between 2.30pm and 4pm. There will also be a drop in clinic at Teddington’s Maddison Centre on Thursday, March 15, from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.

Specialist stop smoking adviser Robert Joseph said: “Many mental health patients smoke to reduce the symptoms or side effects of their medication. It is much more difficult for a patient with mental health issues to give up smoking.”

For details on quitting visit nosmokingday.org.uk.