It's costing us £150 a day, says cafe

An old-established London café fears it could be forced to close because of a dramatic fall in customers following the smoking ban.

Ideal Sandwiches in Westminster has been on the same site for 25 years. But the introduction of the ban on 1 July saw the café's profits fall by about £150 per day.

Manager John Hodges said: "Our sale is about 10 per cent down which, compared with the profit margin we are on, is a lot. We open at six in the morning and from about 6am to

7.30am we used to get the people who started work early coming in for a coffee and a cigarette. Now they can't smoke, people are going straight to work and are choosing to grab a coffee from their canteen.

"Then, when they usually came in for their afternoon break to have a cigarette, a coffee and a cake, people again aren't bothering."

The café is surviving at the moment, but Mr Hodges fears the escalating cost of running a business in London could soon spell the end for him. "We are due a rent increase at the end of this month and if it goes up too much then we may have to close," he said.

"We have five members of staff who would be unemployed. We have just been told what to do by the Government and we have to abide by it or it's tough. We didn't anticipate this huge impact on our sales though.

"We've had this business five years, but it has been on this site for

25. The only ones who are going to benefit are the large companies who can afford the loss."