About 53,200 people work in Britain's pubs, putting the death toll among all pub and bar workers in the country at 226 a year. Of these about 165 would be non-smokers. As a result of the research, ASH, the CIEH and the TUC are calling on the Government to implement an approved code of practice to clarify how existing health and safety law applies to passive smoking. The code would effectively ban smoking from the majority of workplaces.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Ministers should stop defending the fug-filled snugs of Britain’s pubs, which are proving fatal for bar staff and putting off possible customers.' The report also criticises the hospitality industry-backed Public Places Charter, saying it violates air quality standards by three times when a pub is full. It says 'tornado-like quantities of ventilation' would be needed to produce an acceptable risk for bar staff from passive smoking.

Gareth Thomas, MP for West Harrow in London, is backing the report with a ten-minute rule bill that would make all restaurants and cafes smoke-free. The bill, which will enable Thomas to argue his case for ten minutes in the Commons, will be debated on Monday. If it is supported, it could go on to become law.

Last month a Caterer.com survey of more than 1,700 industry workers found that almost seven out of ten favoured a smoking ban in UK restaurants, more than 50% thought it should be banned in hotels, but only four out of ten respondents thought a ban should apply to pubs.

About 53,200 people work in Britain's pubs, putting the death toll among all pub and bar workers in the country at 226 a year. Of these about 165 would be non-smokers. As a result of the research, ASH, the CIEH and the TUC are calling on the Government to implement an approved code of practice to clarify how existing health and safety law applies to passive smoking. The code would effectively ban smoking from the majority of workplaces.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Ministers should stop defending the fug-filled snugs of Britain’s pubs, which are proving fatal for bar staff and putting off possible customers.' The report also criticises the hospitality industry-backed Public Places Charter, saying it violates air quality standards by three times when a pub is full. It says 'tornado-like quantities of ventilation' would be needed to produce an acceptable risk for bar staff from passive smoking.

Gareth Thomas, MP for West Harrow in London, is backing the report with a ten-minute rule bill that would make all restaurants and cafes smoke-free. The bill, which will enable Thomas to argue his case for ten minutes in the Commons, will be debated on Monday. If it is supported, it could go on to become law.

Last month a Caterer.com survey of more than 1,700 industry workers found that almost seven out of ten favoured a smoking ban in UK restaurants, more than 50% thought it should be banned in hotels, but only four out of ten respondents thought a ban should apply to pubs.