Statistics a 'blatant lie', claim vintners

A CLAIM 150 bar staff die each year from passive smoking is a blatant lie, pub owners said yesterday.

Fighting Government plans to ban smoking in pubs, publicans' representatives said the statistic was just scaremongering. The ban is unworkable and cannot be policed, they said.

A report published last week by the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) and the Health and Safety Authority referred to a study which estimated 150 bar staff die as a result of passive smoking.