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NHS staff banned from smoking outside their offices have caused a stink by dropping cigarette ends on a public footpath.
Administrative employees at the Lancashire and South Cumbria Agency (LaSCA) offices in Caxton Road, Fulwood, have to cross the road every time they want a cigarette, because bosses banned smoking on NHS premises.
Smokers have now littered the pavement opposite their offices with dozens of discarded butts and a number of cigarette packets.
One NHS employee, who asked not to be named, said she now smoked on the pavement after being told not to light up in the grounds outside LaSCA, which supplies admin support to primary care trusts.
She said: "It is a bit of a pain having to leave the premises every time you have a smoke break, but that's what we've been told."
Another smoker said: "We had a smoking shelter but they took it away because it was on the premises."
A spokesman for clean-up campaigners Keep Britain Tidy, urged employers to take the problem seriously by installing bins to cut litter.
He said: "Cigarettes are the number one source of litter in the country and we have seen a massive increase since the smoking ban came in.
"It's a criminal offence to drop butts and can result in an 80 fine. It also looks terrible if there are hundreds of butts.
"Special cigarette bins are not expensive and give smokers somewhere to put their ends."
A spokesman for LaSCA promised the litter problem would be looked at immediately.
She added: "Quite a few NHS organisations have adopted the policy of not smoking on premises. We are letting staff smoke in their own cars on the car park."
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Weather for Preston
Saturday 04 February 2012
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