Hospitals are planning to introduce a smoking ban after complaints about smoke wafting into maternity wards.

The trust that runs Queen’s Hospital, in Rom Valley Way, Romford, and King George Hospital, Goodmayes, is consulting over proposals to stamp out smoking on its sites.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) respiratory consultant Dr Rob Fowler said: “We know the overwhelming majority of patients would like to see our hospitals become smoke-free. As a health service dedicated to fighting illness, we cannot condone an activity that is known to cause disease and early death.”

Mum Katie Simmons, 32, of Station Lane, Hornchurch, gave birth to her daughter in June, but was “disgusted” when she could see and smell smoke making its way into the maternity ward that sits close by the entrance of the hospital.

She said: “You could smell the fumes from their cigarettes wafting in and it made me feel physically sick.

“These babies are taking their first breaths in the world and I’m disgusted by the thought of their tiny lungs being filled with smoke.

“It is selfish and cruel to not put a stop to it.”

Director of public health for Barking and Dagenham Matthew Cole, who is also a member of the trust’s smoking cessation group, said he looked forward to the “success” of the plans.