BOSSES at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary have been lashed for making their workers smoke outside in the cold.

Lindley councillor Christine Stanfield wants Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust to provide a place for smokers within the hospital grounds.

The trust brought in a ban on smoking on any of its property in October.

But Clr Stanfield is unhappy about smokers being huddled outside the gates of HRI.

She said: "These people have nowhere to go. They block the pavement, give a bad example to passing children, leave litter and make local residents feel uncomfortable."

She said the trust - and other employers - need to think about where smokers will go when the Government ban on smoking in enclosed public places comes into force on July 1 2007.

Clr Stanfield said: "This new legislation will protect people in the working environment, but will it really prevent many from taking up the habit?

"Employers need to think about where these people are to go or all the doorways and pavements will be blocked by smokers.

"The appearance of our towns will be that of permanent industrial unrest with pickets always on the streets."

Clr Stanfield is asking the trust to create an area for smokers within its grounds, away from patients, the public and non-smoking staff.

A spokeswoman for the NHS trust said the ban had led to many staff quitting smoking and taking advantage of support services that are in place.

She added:

"There are no current plans to provide a smoking area as the Trust's smoke-free policy includes all buildings and grounds at our hospitals."