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The firm donated ?125,000 to fund scholarships at Durham for women from Afghanistan, but in a blog on the CRUK website, Robin Hewings, the charity¡¯s tobacco control policy manager, says that ¡°the tobacco industry¡¯s record means academic institutions should have nothing to do with it¡±.

Mr Hewings argues that the industry ¡°seeks to gain unwarranted respectability by association with credible bodies such as universities¡± and that ¡°these kinds of donation aim to create an environment where there are soft government policies on tobacco¡±.

He says that CRUK operates a code of practice under which researchers cannot seek funding from the charity if they are working ¡°in such proximity to others supported by tobacco-industry funding that there is any possibility or likelihood that facilities, equipment or other resources will be shared¡±.

¡°Spending ?125,000 to seem like the kind of caring people who pay for Afghan women to study at university is small change to this company,¡± he adds. ¡°But when 5,500 people die from smoking every year in the university¡¯s region, Durham should return the money.¡±

A Durham spokesman said: ¡°Durham University¡¯s 2010 Chancellor¡¯s Appeal to fund a programme of scholarships for Afghan women who would not otherwise have access to postgraduate education has been widely recognised as a pioneering scheme, helping the reconstruction of a war-torn country through women¡¯s education.

¡°It enjoyed unprecedented success with more than 2,700 donors raising approximately ?630,000. One donor was the Charities Aid Foundation fund of British American Tobacco.¡±

john.gill@tsleducation.com