Anti-smoking campaigners last night expressed their disgust at any person who lights up in front of children and exposes them to second-hand smoke.
Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s public affairs manager, said that children are the worst affected by smoker’s behaviour.
“Children are particularly susceptible to damage from the deadly chemicals in tobacco smoke as their bodies continue to grow and develop,” she said.
“Across the UK second-hand smoke has been linked to around 165,000 new cases of disease among children each year.
“This is one more good reason for people living or working with children to quit and we’d encourage those who do smoke at home to smoke outside, helping to reduce these risks.”
Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said more work was needed to warn people of the effects their habit can have on others.
“We can’t comment on the individual case, but we do know that second-hand tobacco smoke is a health hazard, particularly to children,” she said.
“Most parents and carers who smoke take some steps to protect children from second-hand smoke but don’t know as much as they could about the risks and how smoke behaves.
“The only way to protect people is to make homes smoke-free and ensure smokers go right outside to light up.
“The Scottish Government is currently running a campaign to highlight the issue and we have welcomed their ground-breaking decision to set the first ever national target anywhere in the world to reduce the number of young people affected by second-hand tobacco smoke.”