The business has gone from strength-to-strength winning a string of accolades including Vision O6 "Small Business of the Year Award" in the CENTA (Consortium of Enterprise Agencies in Lancashire) awards. It recently scooped the BIBAs (Be Inspired Business Awards) 2007 New Business of the Year Award at a glittering ceremony earlier this year.

ON July 1st 2007 the smoking ban will come into force in England. This ban will include all workplaces including pubs, clubs and restaurants. There are a number of restaurants within the Ribble Valley that have already imposed their own smoking ban within their establishments. Others are making the smoking area smaller on a weekly basis to get their customers used to the new legislation before it arrives. For many punters though it will come as shock not to be able to smoke in their local from that date.

The Department of Health is sending out guidance to every business across the country with employees to help them prepare for the ban. A recent survey suggested that one quarter of businesses were unaware of the new laws. The impact will mostly be felt within the licensing trade and evidence from Scotland tends to suggest that custom will go down. Figures from the Scotland point to an 11% drop in drink sales and 3% drop in food.

This all has a domino effect for premises licence holders who now have to consider smoking customers and where they will be allowed to smoke outside the premises. The erection of smoking shelters has to be considered. Do they need planning permission? What impact will there be with people smoking outside with noise and litter?

Many pubs within the Clitheroe area will already have strict conditions on their licence concerning noise nuisance. This is where customers need to recognise the fact that this legislation will not go away and they need to respect people who live near to pubs, clubs and restaurants and to keep noise to a minimum.

Those who are smokers and have travelled to Scotland and more recently Wales, will be aware of some of the problems associated with this ban. For those who do not smoke this will be a breath of fresh air. For those who do smoke maybe this could be your kick-start to give it all up. Apparently, as a result of the Scottish ban, 46,000 people have kicked the habit.

How will it affect us in our beautiful Ribble Valley? Time will only tell, but I am sure there will be enforcement from Ribble Valley Borough Council's Environmental Health Department. You can receive a fine for breaking the ban.

Gill Sherratt is an award winning Licensing Consultant and trainer. She can be contacted on 07769 677 202 or at licensingmatters@tiscali.co.uk. www.licensingmatters.net for any queries regarding licensing law and training.