Pub staff in High Wycombe are afraid a ban on smoking in beer gardens would be a nail in the coffin of the hospitality business.

The UK government is considering a ban on smoking outside pubs including in beer gardens, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed in a speech this morning, Wednesday, September 24.

Mr Streeting said the restriction could help to “reform public health and deal with the scourge of second-hand and passive smoke” – but proprietors and staff at pubs across Wycombe think he’s barking up the wrong tree.

Emma Jamieson, manager of The Stag in Flackwell Heath, which reopened under staff ownership in June after a temporary closure, said she was worried the ban would “be detrimental to our trade” and likened it to the tough times of the COVID-19 pandemic, which similarly gave pubs more rules to enforce and customers less of an incentive to stop by.

“A lot of people come in for a drink and sometimes a smoke after a hard day of work – they just want to let their hair down and not be told what they can and can’t do.

“This ban would be difficult to enforce and we’d probably have to hire more people to keep an eye on the outside areas. That alongside customers maybe choosing to just stay at home and smoke in their gardens instead could be a killer for us and lots of other pubs.

“The industry has been in such a tough spot for the last few years – it feels like you get over one hurdle just for another one to appear.”

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19-year-old Kerry Ingle, who works behind the bar at The Beech Tree in Hazlemere, said she wouldn’t blame smokers if they chose to avoid restrictive pub gardens and met up to socialise with friends elsewhere – admitting it’s what she would do in their shoes. 

“A lot of people are social smokers – they like to come to pub to drink, chat and smoke, that’s a part of UK pub culture. I’m a smoker myself and go to a lot of pubs in the Wycombe area, which I’d definitely do a lot less if this ban was brought in.

“I think it would force a lot of pubs to shut down and lose business. It just doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

Clive Grace, manager of The Flint Cottage near Wycombe train station, said he’d discussed the ban with regulars and had arrived at the consensus that it was “a bit silly”.

He added: “We’re don’t serve food, and we have a big garden so it would definitely have an impact on us. I think it would be pretty hard to enforce too – telling a group of people who’ve been drinking that they can’t smoke could even put our staff in danger.

“I don’t think it would stop people from smoking so much as it would make no one want to go out. It's like they just want to kill off all the pubs.”