A smoker of 18 years kicked the habit last November and has never looked back since.

Linda Augustus, of Devonshire, said that she went cold turkey when she quit.

She said that she did not use anything to take away cravings. "I just stopped. I never used the patches or gums," she said.

"I went cold turkey and I have no regrets."

She said that after returning from a vacation, she began to gag every time she lit up and decided that was it. Ms Augustus was a morning and evening smoker, she never smoked at work and very few people knew that she partook in the habit.

She said: "I would usually go through half a pack a day, in the morning and in the evening. But if I was out having a drink, then I could easily go through two packs in the night. After I quit, I also stopped drinking both coffee and alcohol, and I found that I didn't crave for them."

At the moment she said she cannot take the smell of smoke. "If someone is sitting next to me, just holding one in their hand, but they aren't smoking it - I find that it is too strong," she said.

"But if I am in a room with smoking, it's not as bad." Ms Augustus said that she had not put on any weight in the past six months. She said: "A lot of people are afraid that they will put weight on when they quit, but I have lost a lot.

"I went to my doctor recently and I told him that I had quit, then he said, 'okay step on the scale', when he realised that I hadn't gained any weight, he was surprised. Drama!" Ms August's father was suffering with cancer, due to the fact that he smoked for over 40 years. "Watching him suffer and to see what smoking does to you was really hard," she said. "He is in remission and is doing well."

"I say to smokers - you have a cigarette problem and when you are ready to stop, you will."