FROM today - No Smoking Day - consumers in one part of the region can choose whether they support smoke-free businesses.

What is claimed to be the most sophisticated non-smoking website in the North-East goes online today. It lists businesses and services that have banned smoking.

Run by Durham and Derwentside Primary Care Trust, as part of the Smoke Free Derwentside initiative, the website puts more pressure on bosses to outlaw smoking.

But Dr Maggie Ireland, the public health doctor who runs Smoke Free Derwentside, said businesses should not feel threatened.

"It is an incentive for people to go smoke-free. It is a carrot rather than a stick," she insisted.

"We plan to list shops, pubs, bingo halls, nurseries and other businesses which have gone smoke-free," she said.

The website has been designed with the help of Smoke-free Liverpool, a team of health professionals leading the campaign to end smoking in public places.

Dr Ireland has visited the Liverpool team and invited key members to come to the North-East to pass on their expertise.

"They are the leaders in their field in England, but the North-East is hard on their heels," said Dr Ireland, who predicted that local councils would soon follow the example of Liverpool in seeking legislation to ban smoking in public places.

Dr Ireland believes the website is probably the most comprehensive in the region and hopes it will be particularly useful to schools.

"We have tried to include lots of links to other interesting sites," she said.

The Smoke Free Derwentside logo was designed by nine-year-old Karl Pitt from Tanfield Lea Junior School.

* To view the website, log on to www.smokefree derwentside.org