FOR pensioner Trevor Large the smoking ban was just another reason to quit.

Introduced on July 1, 2007, the then new smoke free law immediately prohibited smokers from lighting up in pubs, restaurants, bars, shops, offices and workplaces, including workplace vehicles. Since then tens of thousands more smokers have followed Mr Large’s example – an estimated 218,000 in the North-East alone.

The 78-year-old from Eston, Middlesbrough, was already experiencing health problems and wanted to prevent his grandchildren from breathing in his second-hand smoke.

“The smoking ban in pubs and restaurants was another reason why I decided to pack in cigarettes. I didn’t want to stand outside, especially in the winter,” he says.

The Northern Echo: Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh (Smoke Free North-East)

DIRECTOR: Ailsa Rutter, director at Fresh Smoke Free North East

“Compared to ten years ago when I used to go for a pint, the pubs and bars are far cleaner, the floors aren’t littered with cigarette butts and you no longer suffer with the smell lingering on everybody’s clothes that came with spending time in a smoky environment.”

According to the group Fresh, which has campaigned for a smoke free North-East, 86 per cent of adults in the region continue to support the ban, based on responses to a YouGov poll. It says continued action to tackle smoking in the North-East has resulted in the largest drop in England in smoking rates.

Twenty nine per cent of North-East adults declared themselves smokers back in 2005 in the run up to the new law, now it’s just 17.2 per cent. Supporters also point to the positive effect on people’s health. A year after smoke free legislation, there was a 2.4 per cent reduction in hospital admissions nationally for heart attacks, with 1,200 fewer emergency admissions in a single year.

“Smoke free law continues to be one of the most popular laws in recent history, as well as one of the most important for people’s health,” says Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh.

“The law was always about reducing high levels of exposure to smoke in workplaces and enclosed public spaces, but it also raised awareness of the harm of smoking and made a lot of people think about tobacco smoke in a completely different way.”

Professor Eugene Milne, director of public health for Newcastle City Council, says there has been a decline in smoking related diseases and the North-East now has the lowest youth smoking rates on record.

“A decade ago many of us would have been coming home from work, or a night out having been exposed to smoke, and 35 North-East workers were estimated to be dying every year as a result," he says.

“The smoke free law brought about a profound social and cultural change, as well as its huge impact on wellbeing and health. For public health it remains a landmark – an outstanding example of popular and effective action. I am very proud to have had even a tiny part in its achievement.”

Not everyone is so thrilled, however. While most smokers that do remain support the ban introduced ten years ago, some feel things have gone too far.

Michael Jacobs, a 39-year-old smoker, from Darlington, who regularly rolls his own cigarettes, singles out “do-gooders” for making the life of the smoker ever more difficult.

“I think most would agree with the ban on lighting up indoors. It seems alien now to think when you were sat in a restaurant you could light up while a non-smoker at the table next to you was just tucking into their food,” he says.

“But, the do-gooders just don’t know when to stop. Plain packaging, massive tax hikes and they’re trying to ban us from smoking outdoors now. It’s gone too far and it feels like we’re being unfairly singled out.

“It’s estimated that alcohol abuse costs the UK £1.5m every hour. The nanny state needs to concentrate their efforts there now and leave smokers alone. We’ve had enough.”

That plea seems unlikely to be answered anytime soon. It’s likely that with smoking remaining one of the top causes of premature deaths efforts to stamp it out will continue. Fresh believes a target of getting smoking down to five per cent of adults or fewer within the next decade is realistic and is also launching a campaign encouraging people who smoke around children in the home to take it outside, or to quit altogether.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, says enormous steps have been taken nationally over the last decade, but the North-East deserves special credit for driving down smoking even faster than the national average.

“The region historically had the highest smoking rates and arguably the toughest challenge, but the joined up working of local authorities and the NHS shows what can be achieved and has had national and international recognition,” she adds.