Smoking ban splits village

The ban came into force yesterday in Wales, while it will be July before it is outlawed across the border.

For pub-goers and landlords on the border in Llanymynech, it has drawn a line down the village, with The Dolphin Inn - in Wales - smoke-free, while at the Cross Keys Hotel - in England - people can still enjoy a cigarette.

Dolphin landlord Chris Haddon said: "I'm against it altogether. Pubs are for drinking and smoking. It is quiet in the week so we won't know until the weekend how it's going, only time will tell."

He said customers should have had a choice, with a system of red and green signs in the windows of pubs denoting whether they are smoking or non-smoking.

"That's what we call choice," he said, "but we haven't been given one."

Smoker Frank Ryan, from Llanymynech, who has been going to The Dolphin Inn for 30 years, said he would now have to go to the Cross Keys for a cigarette until the ban comes in across England.

"I don't agree with it," he said. "I want to know why all those lads died in the Second World War for freedom. We are being dictated to. I think it's disgusting."

Margaret Humphreys, Cross Keys landlady, is also against the ban, saying it made little difference to her trade yesterday.

"It's another choice taken away," she said. "It's becoming a dictatorship."

Smoker Peter Evans, of Llanymynech, said: "It's terrible. Freedom of choice has gone. I go to the Dolphin but I shan't again, and when it comes in the Cross Keys I won't be coming here either. I will stay at home and smoke."

By Suzanne Roberts