The Heart Foundation has released the short, six-question survey after several Tamworth councillors raised the possibility of prohibition late last year.

Early indications are that there is significant appetite among locals to keep Peel St free from harmful tobacco smoke.

Penny Milson, the Heart Foundation's regional health promotion co- ordinator for New England, hit the main street last week to gauge opinion.

Of the 66 people surveyed, 82 per cent of respondents said they would support an outdoor smoking ban in Peel St during the country music festival.

Ms Milson is now seeking feedback from residents on whether they would back a ban throughout the year, with the results to be passed on to the council.

She said the "danger is very real" as statistics showed that 10 per cent of all smoking-related deaths in Australia were due to inhaling second-hand smoke.

"There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke," she said.

"Even if people are outside, if they are congregating in close proximity (to a smoker) then they are potentially at risk.

"The Heart Foundation is delighted that they are looking at the CBD and perhaps other council-owned areas as a potential smoke-free zone."

Ms Milson said she understood that some people in the community would see a CBD smoking ban as an attack on their civil liberties.

"But we take the view that people have a right to breathe clean air, and really, it is an impingement on the rights of non-smokers to be exposed to toxic cigarette smoke," she said.

A similar proposal received unanimous support in Glen Innes.

Log on to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BT95KTX to complete the survey.