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PUBS in Blackpool have been closing at a rate of one a month since the introduction of the smoking ban.
It is a worrying statistic for the licensed trade, but one which sits within a national trend that is seeing traditional watering holes – one-time hubs of the local community – disappear from our streets for good.
Many tap room regulars will point to a law which has divided opinion.
Around 14 pubs have shut their doors in Blackpool since the England-wide prohibition on people lighting up in public places came into force on July 1 last year.
Many licensees say the new law has not helped, but admit it is far from being the sole reason why so many pubs have "closed" signs up right now.
On the flip side, health bosses say the ban has been good news as record numbers of smokers have quit on the Fylde coast in the last 12 months – an estimated 1,500 locally – and heart attacks have gone down by three per cent.
So is the ban on smoking inextricably linked to pub closures?
Adrian Clay, manager of The Raikes, on Liverpool Street, Blackpool, said: "It has affected business. The drinkers who would come in and spend three or four hours having a few drinks and a cigarette we are seeing less of.
"It just feels as if it's one thing after another in the industry and we're really under the cosh. It's not just the smoking ban, it's the global economy, cheap supermarket booze, but the smoking ban has not helped."
Dave Daly, licensee at The Castle on Central Drive, Blackpool, added: "It's partly because of the smoking ban, but that's just part of it.
"It's due to cheap supermarket booze and also a lack of re-investment in the town centre. I would say as far as the smoking ban is concerned, it has meant about a five or six per cent drop."
Local organisers from the Campaign for Real Ale say those pubs worst hit are traditional locals in residential areas who do not have the facilities or the means to diversify and sell more food and cater for families.
Nationally, pubs have been closing at the rate of 27 a week over the past year.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has warned many communities will be left without a pub unless the Government acts now, starting with a duty freeze on beer.
Zoe Pomirs, manager at The New Road Inn, Talbot Road, said she was leaving the trade at the end of the summer due to a number of issues.
She said: "It's not all down to the smoking ban, but that certainly has had an effect.
"I don't think people can afford to keep going with all the difficulties. Just look at all the pubs in Blackpool that have closed already and I think there will be more.
"I haven't really seen a drop in regulars, but in people who just come in off the street and are not staying as long."
The Gazette reported in March how the Claremont Theatre Club, North Shore, popular to hundreds of members for almost three decades, was forced to close its doors. Owner David Hall blamed the smoking ban for driving members away.
The pubs currently closed in Blackpool include: The Sun Inn, the Victory on Caunce Street, The Bloomfield on Bloomfield Road, The Royal on Marton Drive, the Cedar Tavern in St John’s Square, the Lizard Lounge on Church Street , Sundays and Schofields in Clifton Street, the Clifton Arms on Preston New Road, Henry’s in Queen Street and Fusion on The Promenade.
Premises are not required to surrender their licence if they close down, so although Fylde Council said it was not aware of any closures and Wyre Council said it only had one – The Market Tavern, Fleetwood – there could have been more shutting.
Ian Ward, chairman for the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), said the group had opposed the full smoking ban and would have preferred for pubs to have a mixture of smoking and non-smoking areas.
He said: “It has definitely had an effect, more on those places unable to diversify in terms of increasing food or increasing their ability to cater for families or offer accommodation. It has affected those community, traditional locals, in residential areas.”
But the ban has not had a negative effect everywhere.
Michael Baines, at the Eagle and Child in Weeton, said he had seen a difference since the ban came in, but overall the result had not been a negative one.
He said: “We’ve seen a decline in the number of drinkers, but there has been an increase in the numbers of people driving out here to eat. There are more diners who prefer not to eat in a smoky atmosphere.”
And Ian Rigg, owner of The Taps in Lytham, said: “It hasn’t caused us any problems. We have got a smoking shelter and even a smoking jacket we give to people to put on so they don’t get cold outside!
“I think it’s a different scenario in Fylde than in places like Blackpool.”
Certainly health chiefs have heralded the introduction of the ban.
Fay Watson, from the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Smoking Cessation Service, said it had been the service’s busiest year.
She said: “More smokers quit last year than ever before and we did see a surge over the summer before and around July 1. A lot of people have mentioned the smoking ban as being motivation for them trying to give up smoking.
“Especially if someone is a social smoker, it makes it easier for them if they are not around others smoking. The same can be true if someone works in a bar or restaurant and want to quit, it helps not being in that smoky environment.
“I think the ban has been good news for the health of Blackpool, it’s very positive. But we still have more work to do with 33 per cent of the population smoking.”
So, like all good arguments at the bar, this one is still set to run and run.
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Weather for Blackpool
Monday 13 February 2012
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