Smoking in parks may be banned as part of a city-wide health drive.

Senior members of Brighton and Hove City Council would like to see the ban on lighting up in council-owned buildings and children's playgrounds extended to all open spaces under their control.

Although no concrete proposals have been drawn up, they believe the public would support such a crackdown on smoking, the largest cause of preventable deaths in the city.

A senior council source said: "There's so much public will to tackle the problem I think it's going to be easier to reduce public smoking in the future. There is an increasing expectation among the public for smoke-free areas."

Brighton and Hove has already taken several steps towards becoming a smoke-free city.

Lighting up has been prohibited at almost 50 play areas in parks and on the seafront since June. It is also banned from all council venues used for work, public entertainment or hospitality.

Although the council has no powers to order a ban on privately-owned premises, it is encouraging other businesses to follow its lead by signing up to its smoke-free city charter.

Research for Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust (PCT) found a quarter of pubs, clubs and restaurants surveyed had already banned smoking and a further 30 per cent had no smoking areas.

The Dome entertainment complex introduced a smoking ban in all public areas of the concert hall, Corn Exchange and Pavilion.

Last month St Anne's Homeless and Lonely Organisation in Brighton became the first non-smoking day centre in the city.

It is unclear whether a future outdoor smoking ban would be restricted to the city's 337 hectares of parks and gardens or a wider area encompassing nearly 700 hectares of council-owned land including sports pitches, allotments, the seafront and churchyards.

In last year's Big Smoke Debate, led by the PCT, 83 per cent of respondents said they would prefer the habit to be banned from both indoor and outdoor public spaces.