Voters in Switzerland appear to have rejected a total ban on smoking in enclosed public places at a referendum, exit polls figures show.

Hotels, restaurants and bars are currently allowed to have rooms for smokers but critics say this harms the health of those who work in them.

Restrictions introduced two years ago were watered down after lobbying from the catering trade and tobacco firms.

With returns from nearly all 26 cantons counted, the full ban seemed to have been rejected convincingly.

Zurich newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung suggested voters had rejected the ban by nearly two-thirds.

In some cantons, more than 70% of voters rejected the ban, according to Geneva newspaper La Tribune de Geneve. Geneva itself bucked the trend by supporting the ban by 52% to 48%.

Geneva and seven other cantons have already imposed their own comprehensive bans on indoor smoking in places of employment while the remaining, smaller cantons have been less restrictive.

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