SMOKING is costing British business and industry £2.5 billion a year, delegates to a conference hosted by the Monmouthshire Health Alliance heard.

That is the cost of ill-health and lost working time, John Griffiths, former chairman of the UK No Smoking Day Committee, told the audience of health professionals and local authority workers from across South Wales recently.

Mr Griffiths said the habit also costs the National Health Service £1.5 billion a year - but brings £9.616 billion to the Exchequer, of which £110 million is from sales to children under 16.

He also highlighted the link between socio-economic grouping and smoking. Skilled workers and managers are less likely to smoke than the unskilled, he said.

Fifteen per cent of professional men smoke compared with 45 per cent of unskilled men. Among women, the proportions are 14 per cent and 33 per cent.

In Wales tobacco will cause around 5,800 deaths this year - 16 people every day - and accounts for one in six deaths.

Mr Griffiths, of Work2Health in Cardiff, said tobacco is responsible for more than half the difference in life expectancy between rich and poor.

He said poorer families also spend a larger proportion of their income on tobacco - around 15 per cent compared with an average of two per cent.

He added: "To make any inroads into the levels of mortality caused by smoking, co-ordinated action is needed across all sectors and at all levels.

"Public policy development, health impact assessment and the promotion of smoking cessation are key elements of such a co-ordinated approach."

The conference - Improving Health in Monmouthshire, No Smoking, No Butts - also heard from one of Europe's leading health promotion professionals, Maurice Mulcahy, who spoke on smoke-free environments. It was chaired by Colin Berg, Monmouthshire council's corporate director for social and housing services.