A smoker beat a 40-a-day habit – only to get hooked on plastic substitute cigarettes instead.

Linda Nutt, 58, conquered her 40-year habit by using nicotine replacement inhalers, reports The Sun.

The Nicorette Inhalators contain a cartridge impregnated with a tiny dose of nicotine designed to give smokers the sensation of having a puff while holding something cigarette-shaped in their fingers.

But three years on, mum Linda is now addicted to chewing the Inhalators’ plastic cases.

Nicorette manufacturer Pfizer sent her hundreds free in an attempt to help her. But now the firm has refused to give her any more, saying she must beat the addiction once and for all.

And her GP cannot prescribe any more Inhalators, which cost £6 for six, on the NHS.

Linda, of Sheldon, Birmingham, is scared she will start smoking again.

She said: “I don’t understand why Pfizer had a change of heart. It’s the plastic I’m addicted to, not the cartridge.”

Pfizer’s medical director James Walmsley said: “It is vital the Inhalator is used as directed. Anyone who finds it difficult to break the habit of chewing on it should seek advice.”

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