A NEW guide is a breath of fresh air for people seeking smoke-free environments.

Sunderland City Council has joined forces with Sunderland Health Authority to launch its second Smoke Free Air Guide.

The guide contains details of more than 100 restaurants, hotels, sports centres and other public buildings across Wearside, which provide smoke-free areas.

Health promotion officers are hoping the scheme will prove popular, and encourage others to follow suit.

Senior environmental health officer Susan Goodchild said: "More than 70 per cent of the adult population of the UK are non-smokers and there is now strong support for restricting smoking in public places.

"This guide is intended for people who don't want to risk their health by being affected by passive smoking or who simply don't want to be irritated by other people's smoke.

"From the 49 premises who signed up for the guide last year, we've gone to more than 100 this time, and we are optimistic that the number of premises signing up will continue to rise."