Health campaigners have seized upon plans to outlaw smoking in most workplaces by calling for a blanket ban in all enclosed public areas.

The government yesterday opened its consultation on smoke-free legislation, which will prohibit tobacco in 99% of workplaces by the end of 2008.

But campaigners argue the plans do not go far enough to ensure the safety of workers in the food and drinks industry. The proposed smoking ban will exempt private members clubs, pubs and other premises which do not serve and prepare food.

"The exemptions for pubs and bars not serving food will leave workers in around 30,000 pubs and private clubs no better protected," said Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress.

"One pub employee dies every week as a result of passive smoking and thousands more are made ill," he added.

"Simply banning smoking at the bar is not enough; smoke from a distance will still find its way into a bar worker's lungs. The government needs to go that last little step and make the ban complete."

The consultation document, however, left little indication that the government was moving in the direction of an outright ban, which groups including the British Medical Association and Cancer Research UK have advocated in the wake of the Republic of Ireland's success and Scotland's anticipation of a total ban next year.

Delving mostly into policy specifics, the consultation proposed £200 fines for businesses with no-smoking premises that fail to display warning notices and for managers who fail to prevent a person from smoking.

Members of the public caught smoking in smoke-free premises will be fined £50.

Meanwhile, as the government begins its consultation on the new legislation, smokers' lobby group, FOREST, has launched a campaign stating a ban is not inevitable. Research, it says, shows a majority of people do not support a blanket smoking ban, particularly in pubs and bars.

"The most recent poll...found that 72% of Britons are against an outright ban on smoking pubs, clubs and bars," said Simon Clark, director of FOREST.

"Nevertheless, recent reports that new Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt is keen to explore ways to tighten restrictions on smoking are a stark reminder that the government does not always listen to the public."