Smoking ban has stubbed out pub, say regulars

Smoking ban has stubbed out pub, say regulars
By Richard Woolley
REGULARS at a pub which is to close this week claim it has become the Dales' first victim of the smoking ban.
The Malt Shovel Inn at Wirksworth Moor is closing its doors at the weekend, and saddened punters say it will leave a void in the community.

Drinkers at the pub said numbers dropped noticeably after the smoking ban was introduced in July, and they fear this sent the pub into a downward spiral.

Martin Miller, a regular of 11 years, said: "The smoking ban has definitely been a large factor.

"Quite a lot of pub attendees tend to be smokers – I would say at the Malt Shovel it was about 30 to 40 per cent.

"When the ban came in the clientele reduced noticeably.

"The pub has a smoking shelter but at this time of year it is not particularly inviting.

"People now have no place to meet, the employees have no jobs and the politically correct can content themselves in victory."

Fellow punter Howard Knot, a pipe smoker of 40 years, said: "I used to go to the Malt Shovel five or six evenings a week just for the social end of it.

"I object very strongly to anybody dictating to me so after the
ban came in we stopped going altogether. Now we go one evening a week.

"It's hard enough for these businesses to make a living out of it before this. The Government can't say pubs are doing as well because they're not."

Licensee of the Malt Shovel, Barbara Brown, told the Mercury the smoking ban had been "a factor" in the closure but declined to comment further.

A spokesperson for the Beer and Pub Association said: "We are getting a mixed picture since the ban was introduced because, while some pubs are doing better, others are facing difficult trading conditions.

"Pubs that are more food based and have been able to invest in better smoking provision are thriving while some others are struggling, which is what we had always warned."
http://www.matlockmercury.co.uk/news/Smoking-ban-has-stubbed-out.3531697.jp