LANDLORDS and health officials across East Lancashire have welcomed new calls to protect customers from passive smoking -- but warned that implementing changes could be difficult.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has complained that only a "tiny" proportion of pubs and restaurants offer no-smoking areas or effective air conditioning.

She wants restaurant and pub chain bosses, along with other hospitality industry leaders, to talk with the Government about improving conditions for non-smoking customers without imposing an outright ban in public places.

The move is sure to upset pro-smoking campaigners, who say their human rights are already being eroded.

Geoff Sutcliffe, secretary of Blackburn Licensed Victuallers Association, said the LVA had introduced a number of policies in relation to smoking.

He said: "We have a charter which we have been running for a couple of years to encourage non-smoking.

"It is not just for the customers but for the staff, too, who inhale a lot of smoke while working.

"Pubs in Blackburn now have signs on the door saying whether there is a no-smoking area.

"Our policy is not to ban smoking but to help reduce smoke by using air conditioning and air filters.

"The majority of landlords and managers are in support and we are doing what we can but it is hard to get non-smoking areas in smaller pubs.

"Unfortunately, the pub environment encourages smoking and there are a lot of people who only smoke when they go out for a drink. My own pub only has one room and we have a sign warning that it is a smoking environment."

Michael Igoe, president of Burnley LVA, said: "Most pubs in Burnley have a sign saying there is smoking throughout."

But Dorris Lord, tobacco control consultant for the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Primary Care Trust, said it supported the call for talks.

She said: "In Hyndburn we have the Pride of Accrington pub which is smoke free and doing excellent work.

"We would welcome anything that decreases health risks associated with smoking, particularly as the North-West has the highest number of heavy smokers, that is those who smoke 10 or more a day, in England. Non-smokers who live with smokers have 30 per cent increased risk of coronary heart disease.

"Similarly, the health of non-smokers who are in a smoky environment, such as a pub, will be affected. Ultimately, for their own benefit and the benefit of those around them, people need to stop smoking."