BRITISH TELECOM is to ban smoking in its offices and vehicles in a move that is expected to encourage other companies to do the same.

Although the legislation outlawing smoking in pubs and other public places will not come into force for more than a year, the telecommunications company has decided to implement its own ban next month.

BT will introduce no-smoking rules on March 26, when anti-smoking legislation takes effect in Scotland.

From that date 100,000 BT employees worldwide, including 85,000 in Britain, will not be allowed to smoke on company premises or in vans bearing the BT logo. The ban will also cover employees using company cars.

Of the company’s British workforce, 20,000 are cigarette smokers. The company said yesterday that it was too early to gauge employee reaction. However, it said that it had the backing of the unions. Campaigners welcomed the announcement.

A spokesman for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said: “It’s very good to see a big employer acting in advance of the new law. This will encourage other employers to do the same.”

BT staff will no longer be able to use designated smoking rooms. Such spaces will be converted into offices, storerooms or put to other use. Although the company is keen to discourage employees from smoking outside its buildings, it is considering erecting outdoor shelters for smokers.

Apart from the smoking rooms, BT offices have been smoke-free for years, but workers have been permitted to light up in company vehicles.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, half of all British workplaces are smoke-free. Smoking is severely restricted in a further 38 per cent of workplaces.

The company, which has run health campaigns in the past, plans to launch a smoking cessation drive to coincide with its smoking ban. Staff will be offered advice on how to stay off cigarettes.

Paul Litchfield, the chief medical officer for BT, said: “We are trying to promote good health among our staff, which is why we are offering support to help people give up smoking.”

A ban on smoking in virtually every enclosed public place and workplace throughout England will come into force in the summer of next year. The Government estimates that, over time, 600,000 people will give up smoking as a result of the legislation and that that should significantly reduce the number of smoking-related deaths, which stands at 85,000 a year.

The ASH spokesman said: “Good employers should be acting now. Companies are realising that if their staff give up smoking they will benefit in terms of less sickness absenteeism.”

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