PUB workers and taxi drivers are to be given information on where to send passengers who want to give up smoking.

The pioneering project will target one estate in Blackburn and is designed to see if more people will give up smoking if information about quitting is more readily available.

People working in pubs, working men's clubs and other places where members of the targeted community often pass through will also be briefed on where people can get information and supported in kicking the habit.

They will receive basic training and be able to offer advice to people who say they want to give up.

The project will run until August 2005 and it is expected that around 340 young people will gain 'measurable benefit' from it.

It is being backed by £52,526 of Government money, which was given to Blackburn with Darwen Council to help improve quality of life in some of the borough's most deprived areas.

People living in Infirmary, Shadsworth, Whitebirk, Audley/Queen's Park, Accrington Road and Blackburn Central will all benefit from the project.

More than £25million is being spent on projects between 1999 and 2007 which improve employment prospects, address social exclusion, improve housing and the environment, help promote a healthier life, and reduce crime and drug abuse. A spokesman for the Blackburn with Darwen Primary Care Trust, which has come up with the project, said: "Evidence of existing work carried out in that area covered by grants shows that if an intense, pro-active approach is taken, the smoking population is more than likely to take up the service that is available.

"We want to disseminate information and specialist advice to community groups and people like taxi drivers who work and socialise in the area.

"The project aims to offer people in the community basic training in smoking cessation, which will enable them to disseminate information and advice."

Drop in sessions will also be held as part of the scheme at community centres and existing community groups will also get visits from specialists.

Derek Haworth, chairman of the Blackburn and District Licensed Victuallers Association, said: "People often talk about quitting, normally after a Budget or in a new year, but few actually do it. Maybe if the information was at hand they would.

"I have no problem with it."