HEALTH chiefs have taken the war on smokers in hospital grounds to a new level.

They are deploying a host of new tactics to thwart those who continue to flout the rules.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has spent £200,000 to totally enclose the main entrance to Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Under Scotland's smoking ban laws, that means the entrance now falls under the definition of an "enclosed public space" and makes lighting up inside illegal.

On top of that a wide area of the forecourt has been marked with bright red cross-hatching outlining the specific area where smoking is prohibited.

To back that up, a warden is on patrol to enforce the zero-tolerance ban, and also to provide advice on where smokers can get help to quit.

Giant 'no smoking' signs have also been put up in prominent places.

The health board decided to act after it became clear that smoking outside the entrance was the number one complaint about the hospital.

Dr Linda de Caestecker, the board's director of public health said: "Saff, patients and visitors are rightly fed up with having to run the gauntlet of getting through plumes of smoke when entering our hospital sites.

"We have launched this campaign with the very clear and simple message that smoking on our grounds and at our entrances will not be tolerated."

Dr Lindsay Erwin, a consultant respiratory physician at the RAH, said he hoped the latest moves would get the message home that smoking right outside a hospital causes problems that are a lot more serious than some smokers think.

Dr Erwin said: "Smoking outside our hospitals is not just unpleasant but the second hand smoke moves through windows, air ducts and lift shafts to contaminate wards.

"For anyone walking through clouds of smoke there is enough to be at risk of passive smoking.

"From a health point of view it's a no-brainer, smoking kills. It says it on the packet.

"Vulnerable patients who are already sick can easily be affected when smoke enters the building."

John McGill is one of the wardens charged with enforcing the smoking ban.

Within five minutes of the Evening Times arriving on-site to interview him he had already told three smokers that they had to move away from the building.

Mr McGill said: "I ask people to move, and most are quite compliant. You get the occasional bit of bother, but most people are happy to do as they are asked."

John Wilby, is vice chairman of the Renfrewshire Tobacco Alliance who spearheaded the demand for action from the health board.

He said: "This is a breath of fresh air.

"People who are sick and attending for treatment should not have to breathe in someone else's smoke.

"I hope all those who use the hospital will think twice before they light up."

ewan.fergus@ eveningtimes.co.uk