A HEALTH group in an area with one of the highest rates of smoking has overwhelmingly voted in favour of a tobacco ban in public places.
The Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forum covering the Durham and Chester-le-Street area was 83 per cent in favour of a smoking ban.
The forum was responding to a questionnaire issued by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health.
Sally Young, the commission's regional manager, said: "PPI forum members throughout Durham and Chester-le-Street are concerned with smoking, particularly the level of smoking in the area, which is one of the highest throughout the UK.
"The potential health consequences -cancer, heart disease and respiratory problems -cause local people, their families and carers enormous problems.
"Any incentive to reduce the number of people who start to smoke, or make it harder for smokers to continue, whilst improving the health of the wider community, is to be welcomed."
The questionnaire revealed 96 per cent of respondents wanted the Government to do more to ban smoking in workplaces and 83 per cent wanted higher fines for people selling cigarettes to under-16s.
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