PUBLICANS in the Wellington area have slammed proposals to ban smoking outdoors and fear it will be the “final nail in the coffin” for their businesses.

Labour Prime Minister Kier Starmer has confirmed the proposal to ban smoking in pub gardens, outdoor restaurants and other areas in an attempt to reduce the 80,000 preventable deaths caused by the habit every year.

Mr Starmer emphasised the burden smoking has on the taxpayer and says the ban will relieve pressure on the NHS.

Smoking in enclosed spaces was made illegal in England in 2007 and according to the BBC, “between 2007 and 2015, the UK lost nearly 7,000 pubs.”

And 17 years later, pubs continue to face financial difficulty across the UK with insolvencies up by 30 per cent in 2023/24, according to The Spirits Business.

But Geoff Randall, owner of The Staple Cross Inn, Hockworthy, is certain the ban will disproportionately affect country pubs.

He said: “In some places it could be a good thing. If it can be easily policed, then it’s probably a good thing to do. The problem from our point of view is that we can’t control what goes on outside. Are we going to have the police stood on our doorstep?

“The original ban was good,” he said. “But I don’t agree with what’s going on now.”

Amanda Durston, owner of the Globe Inn, has described the proposed ban as “totally ridiculous.”

Amanda said: “It’s just another nail in the coffin, I feel, for pubs in general. I think vaping is a bigger problem than smoking now. I understand the medical side of it but if they’re going to smoke, they’re going to smoke anyway.

“I was working in this industry when the first smoking ban came in and it did hit hard. It really really did change the business altogether. You lost the social life that goes with a village pub.”

Amanda estimates that roughly a third of her customers are smokers.

She added: “They’re not going to stop smoking unless they really want to and telling them that they’ve got to be uncomfortable and go down the road in the rain, they probably won’t bother coming to the pub.”

A recent poll by YouGov indicated that the British public are divided on a smoking ban in pub gardens with 51 per cent of participants in support of it.

But Geoff Randall is certain that the ban will disproportionately affect country pubs.

Geoff added: “You’ll get to the stage when no one will leave their homes. I think it will make quite a difference. It’s a lot to ask of us.”

Amanda added: “We haven’t got eyes on the back of our heads. How far away will they have to be before they light up? Do I have to shoo them 100 yards down the road? In which case they’re smoking outside someone’s house.”

Breaking the law on smoking in workplaces carries a £200 maximum fine in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - and £50 in Scotland.