Trade down in Hexham

Landlord at the Tap and Spile, in Hexham, Fred Callf, said: “Lunchtime trade has been badly hit because most of our customers were office workers who are smokers. Now they don’t come in.

“The older men who like to smoke and drink in the afternoons just stay at home I think.”

Fred and his wife, Sandra, are now clearing out their back yard to make a space for smokers to sit.

Rose and Crown, in Bellingham, landlord David Turner has noticed a difference in the smell of the place and invested in air fresheners to bring a more fragrant odour to the premises.

The biggest change in his pub has been the social side of things, he said.

“A lot of non-smokers complain because all the other customers go outside and it’s ruining the atmosphere at the bar,” Mr Turner said.

http://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=537287