THE u-turn regarding smoking at Bournemouth and Christchurch hospitals is the best display of common sense shown since the ban was introduced.

Poole Hospital would do well to follow suit. The sight of patients, visitors, and staff, smoking on the steps of their Longfleet Road entrance looks appalling to pedestrians, motorists, and public transport users alike when passing by.

Smoking is not the easiest of habits to give up, and the medication on offer to help do so is far from being the panacea, so let’s get the smoking shelters re-erected, and take the danger, and the eye-sore, of ‘having a crafty puff’ out of the equation. Nicotine addiction, like alcoholism, will never go away, so taking a step back and admitting failure is often the best, and safest, practice.

ALAN BURRIDGE, Blandford Road, Upton, Poole