WHEN I turned my back on smoking I decided I had to make a promise to myself if I was ever going to be successful.

And even though I have still got a hell of a long way to go and have only stopped smoking for three weeks, like most promises I make to myself, it seems I have broken it already.

Although it is something of a cliche, most hardened tobacco addicts will tell you there is nothing worse than a reformed smoker. In this day and age no sensible adult needs to be told smoking is bad for their health and can lead to all sorts of horrible diseases.

And any smoker can tell you exactly how much money they pour down the drain because they do not have the will power to quit.

Anyway, from the outset I promised I wouldn't become a tobacco bully and moan at people every time they lit up.

But just seconds after staring at my bank balance and working out how much I have got left to spend until the end of month that familiar enticing smell wafted across my nostrils.

My poor partner was having a quiet fag in the kitchen and ended up getting a 15-minute lecture on the evils of smoking. All I can say is I am truly sorry and I won't do it again, honest.

My list of fellow quitters is now: N Thompson and M Wiggans, Blackburn, Jane Benn, Rishton, Mr Billington, Accrington, Andrea Muldoon, Darwen, Deborah Heyes, Jane Billington and Allison McIntyre.

Remember if you want to publicly announce your intention to quit write to Michael Ribbeck at the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, Newspaper House, High Street, Blackburn, BB1 1HT or e-mail

mribbeck@lancashire.newsquest.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.