On the same day, anti-smoking groups have called for tougher controls on tobacco promotion.

The Tobacco Workers' Alliance, an umbrella group for employees in the industry, handed three sacks of letters in to Number 10 on behalf of 9,500 workers who fear their jobs could be hit by the government's proposals.

The letters call on Prime Minister Tony Blair to take urgent action to ensure Whitehall thoroughly examines the likely effects on jobs of any new restrictions.

The government is expected to include detailed proposals for the restriction of advertising and sponsorship in a White Paper on smoking, due before the end of the year.

Brenda Warrington, chair of the Tobacco Workers' Alliance (TWA), said people employed in the industry wanted to remind Tony Blair of earlier assurances from his office that "job impact assessment" will take place when the White Paper is published.

"The Tobacco Workers' Alliance members are alarmed that within two months of the publication of the White Paper on the future of tobacco, ministers are deaf to the industry's practical concerns about the effect of government policies on the UK tobacco market and the potential for thousands of job losses," she said.

She added that tobacco jobs should be "thoroughly accounted for in the Regulatory Impact Assessment when the government finally announces its plans for the future of tobacco, and that our jobs will be safe for the future."

But three European anti-smoking groups are calling for stronger controls on advertising after a survey showed existing warnings on tobacco products do not deter smokers.

The survey was commissioned by the UK's Action on Smoking and Health and groups from Belgium and France. It questioned around 1,000 people on smoking.

"The current health warnings on tobacco packaging are barely visible," it concluded. "Smokers do not take much notice of the warnings and cannot remember them."