Where the premises have a separate room available for children, the board has the discretion to limit the prohibition to that area.

However, the licensees seeking children’s certificates at today’s meeting of the board almost without exception decided to withdraw their applications rather than introduce a smoking ban.

Many of them said they felt the new policy to be unfair and indicated it would cause problems for publicans in enforcing it.

It was pointed out that pubs which have recently been granted children’s certificates can continue to operate outwith the policy for the next three years before they have to re-apply.

One applicant suggested it should be down to parents to decide whether or not to take their children into a pub where people were smoking.

But the board was adamant the policy would be strictly enforced and that it was up to publicans who wanted to operate children’s certificates to comply.

Board chairman Neil Powrie said they had visited all the premises applying for children’s certificates at today’s meeting to see the extent of the problem for

themselves.

He said he had been shocked to see in one pub a young woman feeding a baby only two or three weeks old in an extremely smoky atmosphere.

Mr Powrie said the board would not back down on the policy. There were thousands of people who wanted to be able to take their children into licensed premises to enjoy a meal in a smoke-free environment.

He was therefore disappointed that most of the licensees had opted to withdraw their applications for children’s certificates.