Meerkats in anti-smoking campaign at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs the hospital, bans smoking except for in designated shelters, but people continue to smoke just outside the building.

Now friends of a severely asthmatic patient, who has to make regular visits to the hospital, are putting up special notices.

They have been attached to models of meerkats that are placed by the entrances.

Kelly Moorhouse, 43, from Meifod, has had asthma all her life and has been hospitalised from the effect of second-hand cigarette smoke.

She has monthly appointments at the hospital for treatment and often has to attend in-between as well.

"I dread going because I have to get past the smokers by the entrance doors," she said.

"I have to sit in the car by the doors waiting for the smokers to go away so I can get through without inhaling their smoke – it's ridiculous.

"The hospital has notices up and has a special smoking pagoda in the grounds. But it seems that many smokers can't be bothered to walk 50 yards to the shelter."

She said friends that take her to and from hospital came up with the idea of putting up their own notices, in a way that would get noticed.

"One of them had one of the meerkats from the comparison website and we used that, which seemed to get noticed," she said.

One meerkat led to several.

Kelly's friend, Ros Mortis, said: "They are being placed in strategic positions to alert visitors, patients and staff to the problem that cigarette smoke causes to a vulnerable group of hospital visitors. This action, on behalf of people with severe respiratory problems, is being taken in desperation at the lack of enforcement of hospital policy.

"Patients with serious breathing difficulties are still having to face the gauntlet of smokers who light up immediately when they leave the hospital, despite a smoking cabin being provided very close to the main entrances, and who are sometimes quite abusive when politely asked to move away from the entrance doors."

A spokesperson for SaTH said: “We see a large number of people coming to our hospitals with smoking-related diseases and this is why we have a policy in place that forbids smoking outside of the designated smoking shelters.

“It is important that this message reaches as many people as possible and we are committed to creating a healthier place for patients, visitors and staff and need support from everyone to keep the vast majority of our grounds smoke-free.

“We fully appreciate just how difficult it can be for people to stop, but we will do everything we can to support them and can also signpost them to the stop smoking service available at our hospitals."

For more information about the Stop Smoking Service offered at SaTH visit www.sath.nhs.uk/your-health/stop-smoking