Licensees help regulars to give up

Trays of mints have replaced ashtrays at a pub which has organised its own stop-smoking sessions ahead of July 1.

Joint licensees Lorraine Lewis and Sue Otley are running the sessions at the Punch Bowl Inn in Darwen, Lancashire, in an attempt to help customers give up smoking before the ban.

The first session, run with the help of a local NHS cessation clinic, was hailed as a big success by regulars at the Thwaites tenancy.

An advisor is now coming along fortnightly on Mondays to provide counselling to 12 people, including Sue.

"I was surprised by how many people wanted to take part," said Sue. "And I think most of them are really going to do it - I can see them giving up completely on or around July 1."

She admitted that some people felt the pub, known locally as 'Pothouse', was a strange place to hold a stop-smoking session but was confident of success.

Sue added: "The pub is one of the best venues to have a no-smoking clinic. We want to do all we can to help people deal with the enforcement and give up."

The licensees have just picked up Daniel Thwaites Brewery's 'Best Community Pub' award after running a number of other successful campaigns.

The pair have also launched a breast cancer awareness group and a campaign to raise child safety awareness, on top of their everyday duties behind the bar.

The Punch Bowl Inn will now go forward to a grand final in December, where they will be nominated for the Tenant of the Year prize.