Bingo club bid for 'cig shack' to beat the ban

nlnews@archant.co.uk
21 February 2007

Ex-smoker and bingo fan Su Middleton says people will soon get used to smoking ban

BINGO bosses at Mecca in Wood Green are planning to beat the smoking ban and protect the interests of its players by building a "smoking shack" in the grounds of the club.

Mecca saw its profits plummet by 15 per cent in its Scottish branches following the smoking ban there and the firm is keen to find a way to keep its members happy.

The Mecca branch in Essex Road, Islington, has announced it is to close. But the club in Lordship Lane, Wood Green, is embracing the new rules and is one of the first businesses in the borough to apply for permission to build a smoker's shelter.

The move has been welcomed by members, who are well-acquainted with the often smoky atmospheres of bingo halls.

Ex-smoker Su Middleton, 42, of Church Crescent, Muswell Hill, said: "People will get used to it. There are probably a lot of people who are going to be up in arms but give it a month or two and no-one will remember what it used to be like."

George Georgiou, 45, a non-smoker from Tottenham, who plays bingo twice a week, said: "At the moment we have to inhale their smoke. The smokers will have to adjust. If they stop coming, where will they go? The pubs will be the same.

"In the beginning people will stop coming, but they will come back."

But regular smoker Joan Taylor, 74, of Bounds Green Road, Wood Green, said: "They would lose money if they

didn't build something like that shelter, especially in the evenings when there are a lot of men."

Under the laws, all enclosed public spaces - including every café, pub, bar, shop, members club and social club - as well as businesses will become smoke-free by law.

The shelter planned for Mecca in Lordship Lane is 10 metres by 4 metres and has perforated aluminium walls.

The government is funding training for local council officers, but a spokesman for Haringey Council said it was "not planning" heavy enforcement with surveillance equipment or a special team, and it expects businesses to comply with the law once they understand it applies to them.