A SURVEY in Darlington will find out people's views on smoking.

Darlington Primary Care Trust, the borough council and Darlington Partnership will be investigating views on smoking, particularly in public places.

Drawn up by the trust, a questionnaire will be distributed to 50,000 homes via the council's Town Crier magazine. An electronic version will also be available on the websites of the three partner organisations.

The survey coincides with National No Smoking Day on Wednesday and follows a smaller poll staged by the council.

That revealed that 29.1 per cent of the town's population smoked.

Trust spokesman Darcy Brown said: "Everyone has heard what has been happening with smoking in America, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Now we want to know what people think in Darlington.

"A survey of this scale is a first for the town and the results will be used to guide future policies concerning smoking in public places."

The Government has pledged to make all its properties smoke-free by next year, including NHS buildings.

By 2007, all enclosed public buildings and workplaces will be smoke-free and the following year that is expected to be extended to licensed premises.

Mr Brown said: "We are overwhelmed by people coming forward to try to stop smoking and that seems to be driven by the decreasing number of places where it is seen as acceptable.

"This survey is an opportunity for everyone to register their views."

Darlington Partnership chief executive Steve Rose said: "We must all work together to reduce tobacco use."