University announces smoking ban

Newcastle University is banning smoking anywhere on its campus from next year.

Staff and students are being warned if they want to smoke after 1 January 2007, they will have to leave the university site - not just buildings.

The university said it was introducing the ban to provide a working environment that was "safe and without risks to health".

Information signs on the new policy, which will also apply to all visitors, are being posted throughout the campus.

Director of human resources and the university, Veryan Johnston, said: "The university acknowledges that passive smoking - breathing in other people's smoke - is a health hazard."

'Healthy lifestyle'

The policy, which has been drawn up in consultation with staff representatives and student bodies, covers all university premises, including the Dove Marine Laboratory and farms, as well as private or hire vehicles parked on the campus.

Mrs Johnston added: "By making it more difficult for people to smoke, as well as creating a more pleasant working environment for non-smokers, as an employer the university is aiming to actively encourage its staff to give up smoking and adopt a more healthy lifestyle."

The move was welcomed by cancer expert, Prof Hilary Calvert, who said: "I applaud the university's decision to prohibit smoking on all its premises.

"It will protect non-smoking staff from the risks of passive smoking and will help smokers who want to stop smoking."