Smoking ban five years on - 'On the whole it's a price worth paying'

It is sometimes difficult, too, to recall just how controversial the move was, given how clearly beneficial it has been to so many areas of our society and to the general health of the nation.

This made it all the more astonishing when we reported this week that, so long after the ban began, no fewer than a dozen Capital pubs had to be warned for allowing drinkers to smoke on the premises last year.

Of course, the smoking ban has been particularly tough on bars and pubs, especially the type of old-fashioned boozers where for many drinkers a fag went with a pint like fish goes with chips.

Some drinkers who smoke have undoubtedly stayed at home. Add in the effects of the recession and an increase in competition on price from supermarkets and you soon realise why dozens of local pubs have closed in the years since the ban.

The British Beer and Pub Association says 25 bars close somewhere in the UK every week, at a cost of 13,000 jobs last year.

But that doesn't mean outlawing smoking in public places was wrong and it doesn't make it right for customers or landlords to flout the ban.

The closure of businesses and the loss of jobs has been a heavy price but, taken as a whole, it has been a price worth paying.

Going out for a pint - and especially a meal - is now a much more pleasant experience. While some traditional pubs have gone out of business, many others have used food or modernised their premises to attract in a newer type of customer.

The biggest plus of all is that, despite the doubters, after five years of banning smoking in public places there are already signs of a cut in smoking and cancer rates.

Yes, many of the boozers which have closed will be long-lamented.

But those of us who mourn their passing will probably remember them more - for the simple reason that we'll live longer.