FATHER-of-one Dave Pearce says his inspiration to give up his 20-a-day cigarette habit as part of Stoptober Stop Smoking campaign is his 18-month-old daughter Eve.

Along with his three colleagues at Thornbury and Pearce Limited builders firm, Mr Pearce, 33, of Charlton, near Malmesbury, will attempt to kick his 17-year habit this month, as part of the national campaign.

He is joined by Jason Thornbury, of Malmesbury; Lewis Beattie, 17, of Oaksey, and Luke Mustoe, 28, of Tetbury, as well as nearly 200,000 others across the country who have committed to quit smoking for October, and thereafter.

“We have been going on about giving up for a while and we said that we should all do it at the same time, and then I found out about Stoptober, so we decided to give up for that,” said Mr Pearce.

“I wanted to give up for health reasons as I have got a daughter who is 18 months old and I don’t want to get to 50 and miss out basically. Jason has a one year-old son as well.

“I smoke about 20 a day so I have armed myself with lots of patches and I have brought an e-cigarette (electronic cigarette) so hopefully I won’t have a problem.”

According to the Stoptober NHS website, https://stoptober.

smokefree.nhs.uk, people who give up smoking for the month are five times more likely to give up completely than those who do not.

The campaign saw 160,000 people give up last October and this year the aim is to beat that figure by providing a starter pack through the website, as well email and text message support.

“My wife Ana has been trying to get me to give up for a while so she is really pleased that I am going to try to stick with it,” said Mr Pearce.

“I gave up for six months when my wife was pregnant but I found it difficult going to work every day where people were smoking. The temptation was always in front of me.

“As we are all doing it together hopefully the temptation won’t be there and we can support each other.”