People who flaunt a smoking ban at Bradford's hospitals are being warned they will be asked to leave hospital grounds unless they stub it out.

The total smoking ban in and around Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital came into force on January 1 and hospital bosses say the majority of feedback has been positive so far.

Anyone caught smoking on hospital grounds has been gently warned about the policy and given information on stop smoking services.

Karon Snape, assistant director of non-clinical support services for Bradford Teaching Hospitals, said a phased approach to the ban had helped.

Countdown posters were put up around the hospital in December to give both staff, patients and visitors a chance to get used to the idea.

Mrs Snape said: "Because a change to a smoke-free environment has been gradual people have had a chance to decide if they want to stop smoking or if they are going to continue, how they are going to smoke and where."

She said staff who wanted to stop smoking were being supported by the occupational health department which was providing stop smoking sessions and a website had been created for staff to support the smokefree environment and provide other avenues to help them stop smoking if group support did not appeal.

Mrs Snape said she hoped the public would now help them to maintain the new smoke-free environment to create a healthier place free of second-hand smoke for staff, patients and visitors.

Posters have gone up at hospital entrances where smokers traditionally gathered and in hospital waiting areas.

GPs are also being encouraged to spread the word about the smoking ban to patients referred to hospital so they are not caught unaware.

As a trust policy it is being policed by hospital staff and Mrs Snape said the majority of people she had spoken to at the entrance to BRI had been unaware of the new policy.

"We need to get the message out to people that we are a smoke-free site, " she said. "It is about getting the message over before people step over the threshold.

"I feel we have had positive feedback so far both from staff and members of the public who say it is right - even from smokers."

The Telegraph & Argus is calling for a total ban on smoking in enclosed public places through our Clear the Air campaign.