MORE than 100 businesses in Darlington have been awarded either a Silver or Gold National Clean Air award.

One of them is the Odeon cinema in North Road.

Its classic art deco silhouette has been a familiar feature of the town's landscape for many decades, but the days when cinemas were once filled with smoke are long gone. For years, all cinema-goers have been obliged to put their cigarettes out once they cross the threshold.

A strict no smoking policy applies to every area of the Odeon in Darlington - meaning it qualified for a Gold National Clean Air Award, endorsed by the borough council.

Nici Franks, one of the cinema's managers, said: "Smoking is completely banned and has been for years. If you go back far enough, there was a time when one side of the auditorium could smoke and the other side coudn't, but that went out a long time ago."

"The occasional customer will walk through the door with a cigarette in their hand, but we just politely ask them to put it out."