Finland prohibited smoking in bars and restaurants on June 1. Estonia's smoking ban came into effect on June 5.

Singapore, too, has banned smoking in indoor areas such as hawker centres and restaurants. From Sunday, that ban will also cover clubs and bars.

The legal ban on smoking brings England in line with the other three parts of the United Kingdom - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - which have already banned smoking in almost all enclosed public spaces.

In 2004, a year after New York banned public smoking, the Republic of Ireland was the first European state to introduce similar laws.

Wales introduced a ban on April 2, followed by Northern Ireland on April 30.

Other European states have followed suit, including Norway, Italy, Malta, Sweden, Scotland, Latvia and Lithuania.

Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland and Romania have similar plans.

Britain's anti-smoking drive will eventually target parents who light up in front of children.

Smoking at home will be the target of the next stage of the government's health drive, the country's chief medical officer has announced, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Sir Liam Donaldson said the measures he plans follow on from the legal ban on smoking in public places from July 1. But the new measures would fall short of legislation.

'The 1st of July is not when action stops, it's a launch pad from which we can make massive strides,' the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Britain has lined up a series of measures to ensure that the smoking ban is successful, including an £80 (S$246) on-the-spot fine for stubbing out cigarettes in the street.

The local authorities have been granted new powers to film secretly in pubs and monitor people's workplaces, be it an office block or a taxi cab.

Apart from prison cells, oil rigs and submarines, there will be few places indoors where smokers can enjoy a cigarette in peace.

Councils are expected to raise millions of pounds from fining people both for smoking and for littering the street with cigarette butts.

The authorities say the money will help buy extra bins and advertising to warn people about the changes.

In January, the European Union's Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou raised the prospect of EU-wide legislation to achieve a smoke-free Europe.

He urged the 27 member states to do more to turn Europe into a smoke-free zone.

In June, the Council of the European Union discussed a range of options for tackling passive smoking during a consultation on the European Commission Green Paper.

It states that as well as a total ban in workplaces and public places across Europe, 'restrictions could also be extended to outdoor areas around entrances to buildings and possibly to other outdoor public places where people sit or stand in immediate proximity to each other, such as open-air stadiums and entertainment venues, bus shelters, train platforms etc'.