Some of the nation's favourite comedians have teamed up with Public Health England to encourage smokers to register for this year’s Stoptober challenge.

By signing up to the 28-day mass quit attempt, quitters will receive a range of personalised support and advice in a humorous tone from comedians Bill Bailey, Al Murray, Shappi Khorsandi and Rhod Gilbert, delivered via text message, email or app. There will also be support available via the Stoptober facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as through a Stoptober support pack.

This year, Stoptober is calling on smokers to undertake the challenge together, following research showing that smokers boost their chances of quitting successfully by 67 per cent if they stop smoking with a partner, and by 36 per cent if they give up with a friend.

Gul Root, Lead Pharmacist, Public Health England: "On a daily basis pharmacists and their teams continue to help and advise their customers on routes to stop smoking; whether that’s pointing them in the direction of local stop smoking services, explaining products and services that can help or, every year in October, talking to them about Stoptober – which we know can be a great conversation starter about smoking cessation."

Rhod Gilbert said: “I smoked for about 25 years and probably spent 23 of those trying to quit, trying everything you can think of to kick the habit. I know firsthand that it can be hard to find the motivation to quit, but Stoptober is the perfect time to give it a go.”

Pharmacies can order a free toolkit to support the campaign by calling: 0300 123 1019

Over a quarter of a million people across the country signed up to Stoptober last year with more than half lasting the full 28 days.