Bingo players have spoken out against the English smoking ban, according to a recent survey.

St Minver – the gaming services group and online gaming operator – asked 3,000 bingo players about the ban, which is due to come into force on 1 July.

The survey found that one in three bingo club players will play less often, 63 per cent of smokers will increase their spend online and that one in 10 regular gamers will stop playing in clubs altogether.

The research showed that 62 per cent of bingo players smoke and that 21 per cent of them will not renew their club memberships.

Leigh Nissim, managing director of St Minver, said: “From our research, it appears that land-based bingo clubs are likely to suffer in the wake of the smoking ban. Not only do players disagree with the ban, but they’re less likely to visit clubs as a result.”

St Minver operates one of the world’s largest bingo networks, and runs online bingo for Yahoo! Games, Virgin Games and Littlewoods among others.