Lighting up has become the most serious social gaffe for visitors, a new poll finds
ETIQUETTE for visitors decrees you shouldn't turn your nose up at a neighbour's decor, check the furniture for dust or arrive without a bottle or suitable gift to mark the occasion.
It really isn't the done thing to jump into granny's favourite a
rmchair, put your feet on her coffee table or take command of the remote control for the TV set.
But a new opinion poll shedding light on the most unpopular forms of house guest behaviour has thrown up a surprise winner in the offensiveness stakes.
With the nation still grappling with the introduction of smoking legislation in the past two years, lighting up in someone else's house has been voted the most terrible breach of etiquette.
According to the findings of a survey conducted by the BBC's Good Homes magazine, visitors who smoke in your home are less welcome than those who outstay their welcome, criticise the way your home is decorated or even raid the fridge.
Experts on both sides of the smoking debate yesterday agreed that the poll findings reflected a sea-change in public attitudes towards smoking.
Sheila Duff, chief executive of Ash Scotland, Scotland's leading anti-smoking organisation, said: "What this poll shows is how much more aware people now are about how harmful second-hand smoke can be. It's not about blaming smokers, because tobacco is highly addictive and is still heavily promoted all over the world.
"Although we have seen a lot of changes in how society views smoking, there is still a lot of work to be done to reduce the impact of second-hand smoke in the home, particularly in the more rural areas of Scotland."
However, Neil Rafferty, spokesman for the smokers' rights group Forest, said: "You would never have seen the same kind of findings in a poll like this 15 to 20 years ago.
"The anti-smoking brigade have basically managed to turn smokers into social lepers these days. These people clearly need to start calming down and get some sense of perspective about smoking, as once the impact of the anti-smoking legislation calms down they'll move on to something else."
And hotelier, writer and social commentator Lady Claire Macdonald said: "I frankly can't think of anything worse than someone checking for dust in my house. How awful.
"As a former smoker myself, there are much worse things visitors could do to offend me, especially stealing something from the fridge or looking for dust."
Bernie Herlihly, editor of Good Homes, said: "Having guests over can seem like a good idea but the result can be a minefield of house etiquette issues. Defining some gentle house rules, especially for guests that are due to stay for a night or two, can be key to a harmonious house guest experience."
