Pupils at all six secondary schools in Derwentside, County Durham, will be offered nicotine replacement therapy.

Derwentside Primary Care Trust and Sure Start Stanley have joined forces with school nurses to create the programme to cut the number of children smoking.

A pilot programme at a nearby school last year resulted in about half the small sample of children quitting.

Under the new project, school nurses will be able to offer patches to children who show signs of being addicted to cigarettes.

Early age

A spokeswoman for the Trust said: "Each young person is assessed individually, we don't just go out and give patches to anyone that steps through our door.

"They all go through rigorous assessments and we also contact their GP so there is support from their own doctor and we also contact the parents, where the pupil says that is ok for us to do so."

Health professionals believe it will substantially improve their chances of kicking the habit at an early age.

In June the Department of Health said the rate of smoking among 11 to 15 year olds had fallen to 9%, from 13% in 1998.

But the department said more still needed to be done to improve the situation.