Smoking ban predicted to affect bingo halls

Leisure groups such as Rank, the bingo club operator, have predicted a decline in profits following smoking plan, which came into effect on 1 July 2007

With the introduction of the smoking ban, people are unlikely to spend money on the slot machines between games of bingo but are expected to venture outside to smoke. As well as that, about half of all bingo players smoke, in comparison a quarter of the population at large. When the ban was implemented in Scotland, bingo halls saw an average of 15% decline in profits.