Hard-hitting TV adverts to encourage smokers to quit - particularly those who are parents - are being launched by the government on Boxing Day.

They will show children standing over the graves of parents who have died of heart disease or lung cancer. More adverts will follow in the new year, with advice about free NHS Stop Smoking Services, as part of a £6m advertising drive to curb smoking. Over the Christmas break, 3,000 people will die of smoking-related illnesses. The adverts depict the emotional impact of smoking on families, including a mother struggling to break the news that she has cancer to her children and a young girl laying flowers on her father's grave. The government hopes that smokers watching TV with their families over the festive period will resolve to give up cigarettes, with fears about their children being a strong motivation to actually quit parents want to do the best for their children, we all want to be around to see them grow up. The NHS smoking cessation services helped 200,000 people give up last year, the expert opinion is smokers are four times more likely to quit successfully using these services, than relying on willpower alone. There are over 170 centres nationwide offering advice and prescriptions for nicotine replacement therapy, attending a stop smoking service is going to increase the chance of success by four times. Smokers' lobby group FOREST say the campaign should carry a government health warning because smokers and their families are in serious danger of being scared to death as these advertisements stigmatise all smokers irrespective of whether they are long-term heavy smokers or moderate smokers who keep fit and enjoy a healthy diet. There will be a second round of adverts to support those New Year's resolutions, with information on how to get help locally.

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