One bartender, waitress or club worker dies in the UK every week because of breathing in second-hand cigarette smoke.

Passive smoking is estimated to cause at least 49 deaths a year among those working in the hospitality industry and a further 700 people due to environmental smoke in the workplace generally.

And almost 4,000 people die due to being exposed to tobacco smoke in their own homes each year, according to new research.

The findings were being presented today at a conference organised by the Royal College of Physicians.

Monday May 17, 2004