Licensees who are for and against

Danny Davis

The Woodman, Chapmore End, Hertfordshire

AGAINST "I am not happy with the ban. A month ago we made one of our two bar areas no smoking to give customers the choice and hoped to use that as leverage to avoid a ban. We are quite a small food pub and it accounts for less than 10% of our takings. I am considering dropping food, because if we banned smoking we would suffer a significant drop in trade. We have a lot of walkers who come in for lunch and we would lose them. It is like chopping off your finger to survive."

Nigel Wilkes

The Squirrel Inn, Godalming, Surrey

FOR "We do food in the whole pub, but are lucky in that we have an outside area where smokers can go. I don't see it as a huge issue for us, we will go smoke free. There are several issues with forcing people to go outside to smoke though. We are not licensed outside, so will girls be happy to leave their drinks unattended inside? I also think it will cause a lot more aggravation and grief in the high street where there are no outside areas. It is a reasonably well thought-out policy and is good for health, but it does reduce choice. Why shouldn't people be free to have a cigarette at the end of a meal?"

Steve Parkes

Grey Mare, Belthorn, Lancashire

FOR "I totally agree with it. Smoking should be banned in all pubs serving food. We don't currently have any no-smoking areas, but will press ahead with it if everyone else does. We don't want to be the first to do it though."

Pauline Payne and Jane Bishop

The Anglers Retreat, Tring, Hertfordshire

AGAINST "We are more than disgusted with the Government White Paper which is completely taking away our choice in the way we want to run our public house business. We are about 70% wet, 30% dry, and will lose a lot of our customers on both sides when, and if, this smoking ban is enforced. I wonder what the Commission on Human Rights in Brussels would make of it all if anyone bothered to push it. This is a flagrant disregard of our civil liberties. If no smokers can have a smoking area then smokers need to be able to have smoking areas."

Gerry O'Brien

Churchill Arms, Kensington

AGAINST "I am more than a little bit worried to say the least. The culture for years has been to have a cigarette with a pint and you can't suddenly stop that. We have a no-smoking restaurant but food is a sizeable part of our business. I don't want to make my lovely pub into a food bar. People love to eat in the pub section and enjoy the hustle and bustle. It is a great concern. Either way I go, I think I could lose up to half of my business. We have no beer garden and I don't like the idea of a group of people standing outside smoking. We all want fresh, clean air but I would prefer to do it by ventilation methods."