Smokers barred

The move met with a mixed reaction from smoking and non-smoking regulars at the Silver Street hostelry

SMOKERS will be banned from lighting up in a Trowbridge pub under new rules to be introduced next year.

Pub operator JD Wetherspoon, which owns the Sir Isaac Pitman, has announced a ban on smoking in its pubs by 2006.

Chairman Tim Martin said: "An increasing percentage of the population is giving up smoking and a significant number of people are staying away from pubs and restaurants because they are too smoky."

The Sir Isaac Pitman already has a non-smoking section, but plans to extend the rules to the rest of the pub have been met with a mixed reaction from the pub's customers.

Smoker Natalie Thomas, 18, said: "If you stop people smoking they are not going to come in the pub and trade will suffer. We will just go to a different pub."

There are fears that policing the ban will be difficult and it could lead to groups of people congregating in the street to have a cigarette.

Claire Elsden, 18, said: "If you are going to ban smoking in a pub then people are going to go outside for a cigarette and that's where trouble tends to start."

Wetherspoon will be banning smoking at 60 venues across the country from May this year, with the ban extending to all its 650 pubs in May 2006.

The firm has acted ahead of Government legislation, which will ban customers from lighting up in pubs that sell food by 2008.

Mr Martin said: "Wetherspoon pioneered non-smoking areas, but we now feel it's the right time to go one step further.

"The Government's approach to the issue of a smoking ban does not make sense, since pubs can get around it by giving up food sales."

Pitman customer Tony Brown, 64, said: "They will lose trade. There are a lot of smokers that come in here. Most regulars will go elsewhere."

The ban has been welcomed by anti-smoking groups, which have been campaigning for laws to protect non-smoking customers and staff in public places.

Mike Unger, chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Foundation, said: "JD Wetherspoon is acting as a responsible employer, protecting workers from the effects of passive smoking and responding to the wishes of the majority of their customers. We encourage the entire hospitality industry to follow their lead."

Health professionals and anti-smoking campaigners hope a ban on smoking in the workplace, including bars and restaurants, will not only protect people from the effects of passive smoking but will encourage smokers to quit.

Plans for a tobacco ban spark row

PLANS to ban smoking in enclosed public areas is already provoking an intense debate.

Pro-smoking groups argue a ban encroaches on people's civil liberties, with opponents arguing that people have a right to be protected from the effects of second hand smoke.

The Government proposes to ban smoking in nearly all enclosed public places, including offices, factories, bars, cafes and restaurants, within three years.

According to recent research about 30 per cent of adults under 64 in the UK smoke, but surveys suggest that most smokers want to kick the habit.

An estimated 42 per cent of under 65s are exposed to tobacco smoke at home and 11 per cent at work.

The Government announced in November plans to impose a ban on smoking in public places as part of a drive to encourage healthier living.

The White Paper on Public Health includes restrictions on smoking in licensed premises by the end of 2008.

Anti-smoking groups have criticised the proposals for not going far enough.