a)      Twenty thousand Liverpool council workers

b)      An email from chief executive David Henshaw

c)      He also warns that anybody leaving the office faces

d)      According to the correspondence, some workers have been sneaking to the toilets

e)      warns all staff that sneaking away for a cigarette could constitute gross misconduct.

f)        disciplinary action for taking 'absence from work without permission'.

g)      for a smoke, while others have been leaving the office altogether.

h)      reveals that staff are continuing to ignore the ban on smoking inside council buildings.

i)        All employees - including the city's 99 councillors - have been sent the email which

j)        "We do not believe that this is something which can be classed as gross misconduct.

k)      There has been union and pro-smoking opposition to the action,

l)        have been told they could lose their jobs for taking unofficial cigarette breaks

m)    branding the policy "heavy-handed".

n)      Sheila Kearney, branch secretary of Unison, said: