SHELTERS will keep council office smokers covered from the elements when they step outside to light up.

Durham County Council plans to install £674 shelters at its County Hall headquarters after banning smoking in nearly all of its buildings.

At the start of the month it closed smoking rooms on its premises and only allows smoking by clients at some social services facilities, such as care homes.

But staff consultation has revealed that 40 per cent of smokers and 35 per cent of non-smokers support giving cover to nicotine addicts.

The Labour-run council's cabinet has also approved helping employees to kick the habit.

Measures include information on stop smoking classes and offering £18 per employee for a course of nicotine patches.

Smoking breaks now have to be taken away from public or main entrances.

Head of personnel services John Hodgson told the cabinet: "Providing covered facilities is also seen as part of this package of compensatory assistance to smokers.

"Clearly the shelters will provide protection for people when the weather is poor.

"The positioning of any shelter will be an important factor. There has been some concern about smoke from people taking smoking breaks drifting back into the building, for example, at the rear entrance to County Hall.

"The location of any shelter and repositioned ash trays would also be geared towards alleviating this problem.''

Managers of other county council buildings will have the power to install shelters depending on cost and the number of smokers.

Councillors were also told that the cost of shelters was set against the £450 annual cost of redecorating County Hall's four former smoking rooms.

The union Unison supports the installation of shelters.