Inmates could soon be banned from smoking at prisons in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice has said. A pilot scheme to monitor how prisoners react to the move is being planned by the government, but sites have not yet been chosen.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "We are considering banning smoking across the prison estate and as part of this are looking at possible sites as early adopters."

The pilot scheme is expected to launch in the spring of next year, and if successful, the ban would be rolled out across all prisons within 12 months, the Times newspaper reported.

There are fears that the ban could cause disruption in prisons, with around 80% of inmates in England and Wales believed to smoke, according to the NHS.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers` Association, told the Times that introducing the ban would be difficult. "There is no pretending otherwise," he said. "It could cause disturbances, but they have done it successfully in Canada and in young offender institutions in England and Wales.

"We welcome this move. It is our policy to have smoke-free prisons for our members. We will work with the ministry to make sure it works effectively."

Gillan said that without a smoking ban, the Prison Service risked legal action from a non-smoker claiming to suffer from the effects of passive smoking.