Workingmen's clubs face ban on smoking

Proposals to exempt private clubs from a ban - allowing members to make a choice - have been dropped after Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt decided they were unworkable.

But last night, club officials in the North-East told of their fears of closures and job losses if the measures were adopted and drinkers decided to stay at home.

Ms Hewitt is believed to be concerned about the health risks to staff exposed to secondary smoke and the prospects of legal action if they developed cancer.

Pubs facing an outright ban also objected to the perceived loss of trade if smoking was still allowed at nearby workingmen's clubs.

Last night, Mick McGlashan, branch secretary of the Durham Club and Institute Union, said: "It is difficult to guess how people who enjoy coming to our clubs will react to a blanket ban.

"It is hard enough getting people through the doors with the kind of entertainment they can get at home with Sky and the like, but this could lead to a lot of clubs closing and people losing their jobs.

"It is a real concern for us, and we would have preferred for clubs to be able to decide for themselves without the Government getting involved."

There are controversial suggestions that pubs and private clubs will be able to set aside a smoking room, sealed off from bar areas to protect staff and non-smoking customers.

That compromise was debated yesterday by a Cabinet committee ahead of publication of the Health Improvement and Protection Bill, possibly as early as tomorrow.

There were reports last night that some Cabinet ministers were still opposing the plan to ban smoking in private club.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell is among Cabinet members unhappy at the idea of smoking rooms - dubbed "cancer cabins" by critics - but the plan was expected to win approval.

Problems will remain over who will clean the sealed-off rooms and ensure there is no illegal drug-taking or violence.

It is possible the Bill will be published without full details of the exemptions, allowing ministers to hold a further consultation with pubs and local authorities.

Under the original proposals, workingmen's clubs, sporting clubs and British Legion clubs would have been required to hold an annual vote on smoking.

But Ian Willmore, of the anti-smoking group Ash, said: "I know for a fact that the pub companies said they hated the idea of an exemption.

"If you run the Dog and Duck in competition to the Labour club next door, it is likely to affect trade if smoking is allowed there."

The removal of the exemption for private clubs is the second major tightening of the contentious legislation since a consultation was launched in June.

Ministers have already abandoned plans to permit smoking in pubs that do not serve food, after it became apparent it would widen the North-South health divide.

Up to 64 per cent of pubs in Tony Blair's Sedgefield constituency would have escaped a ban - way ahead of the predicted national average of between ten and 20 per cent.

There would also have been high levels of exemptions in Darlington (55 per cent), Wear Valley (55 per cent) and Derwentside (38 per cent).

The Department of Health's research revealed that many pubs in poorer areas planned to stop serving food in order to allow smoking to continue.

Les Bayles, secretary of the Darlington East End Club and Institute, where £35,000 is being spent on air filters and extractors, agreed with Mr McGlashan.

He said: "It should be left to the members to decide, but an outright ban would be harmful, and a compromise could be to set aside an area for smokers."

A blanket ban is likely to be discussed at next month's annual meeting of Bishop Auckland Golf Club, which already has a designated non-smoking area.

And John Hall, secretary of Seaton Carew Golf Club, in Hartlepool, said: "This would need to be discussed by the committee. But personally, as a non-smoker, I think it would be a good thing.

"We have more non-smokers than smokers in the club."