STAY out of Bolton. That was the message from union bosses today after the tobacco industry revealed it is to lobby the council in a bid to stop smoking bans being introduced in the town.

The Tobacco Manufacturers Authority (TMA) believes pressure is growing to make Bolton one of the first smoke-free towns in Britain.

The group which represents tobacco giants -- such as Gallaher, Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco -- has called on the council to continue supporting voluntary self-regulation instead of imposing bans.

But Martin Challender, branch secretary of Bolton Metro Unison, claims workers are getting increasingly concerned at passive smoking.

He said: "This is a health and safety issue for our members and many of them are increasingly concerned at the level of exposure to tobacco smoke that they face daily." "The vested interest of the tobacco companies in this debate is clear and it would not contribute constructively at all."

But TMA spokesman, Gill Silverman, believes seven out of ten adults in Bolton favour voluntary self-regulation.

She said: "We intend to contact councils and councillors directly, in order to debate the issues and put across what we see as a majority point of view, that voluntary self-regulation works with regard to smoking in public." Smoking kills more than 120,000 people in the UK every year. A recent health survey revealed that almost 30 per cent of adults in Bolton smoke, slightly above the national average.

Deborah Smethurst, tobacco control manager at Bolton Primary Care Trust, said she wished to see more smoke-free public places.

"It may be that local or national legislation is put into place to protect non smokers from the serious detrimental effects of second-hand smoke," she said.

John Jewitt, landlord of Ye Olde Man and Scythe in Churchgate and secretary of the Bolton Licensees Association, said landlords are opposed to a smoke ban.

He said: "There is already an organic process taking place, whereby people who don't want to smoke are gravitating towards certain pubs, and hard-core smokers are going in others.

"A total ban would be disastrous for trade in many of them."