PUB'S FUTURE UP IN SMOKE

AN ICONIC Haggerston pub that has been serving locals for 50 years is being forced to close due to the imminent smoking ban, the Post can reveal. Harriet Shawcross investigates.

The Belgrave Arms, on Queensbridge Road, will serve its last punter in June because its landlord says his business cannot sustain the ban.

Daniel Bradley has sold the pub to chain Punch Taverns. The Post understands the firm is set to resell the land for development into luxury flats.

He said: “We’re a local pub for local people, and in this area everyone smokes. I just don’t believe we could survive the ban. If people can’t smoke in the pub then they will buy beers from the supermarket and drink at home.”

Mr. Bradley, who has managed the Belgrave Arms for six years, added: “I think it’s a violation of human rights.

“We should be able to have a sign saying ‘This is a smoking establishment’, and then people could chose if they wanted to come in. The full smoking ban is madness.”
The British Beer and Pub Association said that the Belgrave Arms is just one of thousands of other local pubs which will also be affected by the ban.

A spokesperson said: “It has always been our concern that traditional back street pubs will suffer with the smoking ban. Pubs that are smaller, and are not focussed on selling food may, inevitably, be forced to close.”

Simon Clark, director of pro-smoking lobby Forest, said that the loss of pubs like the Belgrave Arms could damage community spirit.

He said: “Pubs are centres of social entertainment, without them everybody would be sitting at home in front of their televisions and computers. Councils need to jump off the anti-smoking band wagon and help their local communities.”

Regulars at the Belgrave Arms said they were sad to lose their favourite watering hole.

Wayne Burns, 52, from Broadway Market, enjoys a drink at the Belgrave Arms a few times a week after work on a nearby construction site.

He said: “It’s a shame that it’s little pubs like this that are losing out. People enjoy having a smoke when they are drinking and I don't think the ban is going to change that. It’s fine to ban smoking in hospitals and offices, but not in pubs.

“People go there to relax, play some darts and have a pint and a fag. It’s sad that soon we will not be able to do that.”