A crackdown on smoking in children's play areas could lead to an outright ban in all parks.

To coincide with national No Smoking Day on March 11, Waltham Forest council has launched a campaign to discourage smoking in all of the borough's playgrounds through new signage. 

The scheme, if successful , could lead to a ban in all parks, the council's cabinet member for health and wellbeing said. 

Cllr Ahsan Khan, added: "Our children’s play areas are for healthy play, not cigarette smoke.

"Research shows that the less children see adults smoke, the less normal they think it is, reducing the chances of them starting smoking themselves. 

"Our campaign is all about encouragement rather than enforcement, and if it’s well-received it could potentially be the starting point in a wider campaign to ban smoking in parks entirely.

"So, our message is simple, don’t puff away while children play."

The new signage is to be rolled out across 30 fenced-off play areas and leaflets will be distributed.

Claire Bithell, 37, of Elphinstone Road, Walthamstow, has a baby and toddler who both suffer from asthma. 

She said: "There are areas in Walthamstow where you see a lot of second-hand smoke so it will be nice to have open spaces where it not an issue and you don't have to think about it. 

"It's disgusting when kids pick up cigarette butts in the sand so I see this as a good start and I think people will respect it if there are signs."

Marina Heartwell, of Wadham Avenue in Walthamstow, is an ex-smoker and regularly takes her granddaughter to parks in the borough. 

She said: "Most parks these days hardly have any bins so it could stop littering their cigarettes.

"It does seem a bit too much and I'm not sure if it will discourage children from picking up the habit." 

The scheme follows advice from the London Health Commission which calls for smoking to be banned in parks across the capital and is supported by Waltham Forest Clinical Commissioning Group.