Graphic new warnings of the dangers of smoking, which will appear on cigarette packets from next week, have been welcomed by Oxfordshire health officials.

From Wednesday, the UK will be the first country in the European Union to introduce the picture warnings on all tobacco products.

They illustrate the health effects tobacco can have and aim to encourage more smokers to kick the habit, which kills almost 400 people a week in South East England.

Oxfordshire NHS Primary Care Trust said it was exactly the message that many smokers needed to help them quit.

The new warnings, which include pictures of rotting teeth and lungs and throat cancer, will replace the written warnings featured on packs, which were introduced in 2003.

Laura Wardak, the PCT's smoking cessation officer, said: "Since the smoking ban, thousands of people in the county have stopped smoking. Now we can persuade more people to quit.

"Most smokers know the potential harm they're facing, but seeing these 14 different graphic warnings will really bring it home to them.

"These visual warnings will definitely have an impact and once people do decide to quit, we're there to support them."

In July, it emerged the smoking ban in England, which was introduced a year earlier, had prompted thousands of people to quit in the following 12 months, with a 28 per cent overall increase compared to 2006-7.

The PCT's NHS Stop Smoking Service helped a total of 6,799 smokers in Oxfordshire set a quit date in the 12-month period, with 4,063 going on to stop smoking for at least a month.

The 28 per cent increase in people quitting smoking in Oxfordshire was six per cent ahead of the national figure.

Jo Locker, tobacco control manager for the South East Public Health Group, said: "Just as with the introduction of the written warnings, the picture packs will provide smokers with another motivation to quit."

According to the Department of Health, the written warnings have been a huge success. Since their introduction five years ago, more than 90,000 smokers have been motivated by the warnings to call the NHS helpline.

The visual wake-up calls are expected to be even more effective.

For advice on quitting, call the Oxfordshire Stop Smoking Service on 0845 408 0300, the NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 169 0169 or the Quit for Life helpline on 0800 328 0276.