Wetherspoon to ban smoking

Pub operator JD Wetherspoon will ban smoking at all of its 650 pubs by May 2006.

Tim Martin, chair, said the decision comes as the company does not want to lose its non-smoking customers.

He said: “An increasing percentage of the population are giving up smoking and a significant number of people are staying away from pubs and restaurants because they are too smoky. We believe our approach of a complete ban after a period of notice is the right one.”

Wetherspoon will begin converting its estate immediately, as it announced plans to have around 10 per cent of its sites smoke-free by the end of May 2005.

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), welcomed the decision. Deborah Arnott, director of the charity, said: “Wetherspoon’s plans show that the government has nothing to fear from introducing legislation to make all pubs smoke-free.”

The government’s white paper demands all pubs serving food must be smoke-free by 2008.

Wetherspoon opened its first smoke-free pub during January.