A year on from the introduction of the smoking ban, research suggests that employees feel it has had a positive effect on their working environment.

Almost two thirds of workers told the employment website Monster that the ban had improved working conditions, though one in three complained that time was being wasted through colleagues leaving the building for cigarette breaks.

“Figures show that an average smoker takes six, 10-minute breaks each day, which results in a loss of one hour a day per smoker, or five hours a week,” the report said.

“Employees who smoke are also more prone to ill health so it is in every company’s interest to encourage their employees to quit smoking by providing support and raising awareness.”

A quarter of respondents said they had been inconvenienced by the ban, though Monster acknowledged that in many offices it has had little effect as a large number banned smoking some time ago.