Support grows for smoking ban

Like New York and Dublin, is it time for London to impose a smoking ban in public places?

A new survey reveals that there is growing support among Londoners for non-smoking restaurants at least.

As the anti-smoking movement gathers pace around the world, almost 40 per cent of Londoners said they dislike the smell of cigarette smoke so much they want an end to smoking in dining venues across the capital. A further 35 per cent believe that smokers should be separated by a wall from other diners.

The MORI survey of almost 2,000 respondents around Britain found that the mood in London is changing.

As Ireland prepares for an outright ban on smoking in pubs from the start of next year, it appears that Londoners may soon demand to follow suit.

Last year actress Anna Friel was kicked out of her own post-premiere party for The War Bride at the strictly smoke-free Canadian High Commission, after she lit up a cigarette.

However, Judith Watt, the head of SmokeFree London which commissioned the independent research, said restaurants, pubs and clubs in the capital were not keeping up with demand for smoke-free venues. Only a handful of places are smoke-free, including London's oldest restaurant Rules and the noodle bar chain Wagamama.

"The attitude in London is changing very quickly and people want more non-smoking places to go. But venues are not keeping up with this demand as they fear they will lose business. The reality is that in other places which have banned smoking, revenue actually goes up," she said.

In fact, only a small number of hospitality groups in the capital have signed up to an industry charter.

The idea was that pubs and restaurants would display a sign indicating how much of the venue was devoted to smokers and how much to nonsmokersas well as creating areas which are cigarette-free. But according to an investigation by the Greater London Authority last year, only nine per cent of pubs had a no-smoking area.

Yesterday, the opinion of London establishments remained divided. JD Wetherspoons, who own 100 pubs in and around London, devote between a quarter and a third of the space of each to no-smoking but would be against an outright ban.

Restaurant chains including Pizza Express, Cafe Uno and Garfunkels have both smoking and no smoking zones but said they would be against an outright ban.

Clubs including Tiger Tiger and Sugar Reef also said they would not ban smoking. At the Berkeley-Square-Cafe in Mayfair, patron Steven Black has made half the restaurant nosmoking.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health has called for a ban in areas where people have to work.