A CAMPAIGN to make workplaces smoke-free ahead of next year's law change arrived in Northallerton and Richmond yesterday.

A double-decker bus visited both towns to launch the Smokefree: Liberate the Workplace campaign.

Health professionals and members of the Smokefree Alliance were on board to give information and advice to anyone interested in turning their workplace into a smoke-free zone.

On Tuesday, MPs voted to ban smoking in all public places within 18 months.

Smokefree Alliance co-ordinator Kath Wise, who works at Catterick Village health centre, said: "A way we can all create a healthier area is by ensuring a healthy and safe environment for everyone who lives or works here. The dangers of second-hand smoke are real - it is not simply unpleasant. In the UK, more than 3,500 people a year die as a result of being exposed to second-hand smoke.

"Let's liberate workplaces from this health and safety danger as quickly as possible."

The campaign is being led by Hambleton and Richmondshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Richmondshire and Hambleton district councils.

Dr Phil Kirby, director of public health at the PCT, said: "The bus offers support on smoke-free policies in work places and public places, as well as giving information for the public on how to make homes smoke-free and help for smokers from the NHS Stop Smoking Service."