Doctors, nurses and charities in the UK have renewed demands for a total ban on smoking in public places, and are warning that government plans to allow smoking in some pubs would increase health inequalities.
The demands come at the end of the consultation period on proposed legislation that would partially ban smoking in public places, exempting pubs that do not serve food.
Apparently a study by Cancer Research UK and Action on Smoking and Health, has found that many publicans, especially those in poorer areas, will stop serving food to get around the proposed legislation.
The charities say the survey of 1,250 bar managers has provided "final evidence" that the exemptions should be dropped.
Professor Alex Markham, Cancer Research's chief executive, says their survey provides strong evidence that a partial smokefree law would widen the health gap between rich and poor.
Nurses leaders are also calling for a total smoking ban which they say will save up to 30 people a day from the fatal effects of passive smoking.
As many as 5,000 nurses and RCN supporters have petitioned Ms Hewitt for a total ban, and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has urged the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, to take immediate action to ban smoking in all enclosed public places.
Dr Beverly Malone, the RCN general secretary, has criticised the government's plans to exempt pubs that do not serve food as "nonsensical", and cites a British Medical Journal study which has found that second-hand smoke kills 11,000 people a year in the UK.
She says whether a pub serves food or not is irrelevant, the issue is about having no choice about breathing in the smoke of others and the devastating effects of passive smoking on health.
The Trade Union Congress has also warned ministers that anything other than a total ban would threaten the lives of hundreds of workers, and says the proposed exemptions to the ban would cause confusion.