THE smoking ban has been met with mixed reaction from Worcester folk who turned out at city pubs on the day the new law came into force.

Some said they were angered by the ban and claimed it "ruined the atmosphere" of popular watering holes, while other customers said they were only too happy to be enjoying a drink in a smoke-free atmosphere.

Ken Clackson, of Vigornia Avenue, said: "Mr Blair and his government did very little that I had been in favour of. But the smoking ban was 100 per cent right. Now I can come out for a drink and don't go home stinking of smoke. It's absolutely wonderful."

Mr Clackson gave up smoking 40 years ago and now at the age of 73 likes to enjoy a daily drink in The Goodrest in Barker Street, off Rainbow Hill.

He said: "Coming in here today with no smoke in the air has been literally a breath of fresh air."

But despite also being a non-smoker himself, Angus MacPherson said he disagreed with the ban. "There is no atmosphere in a pub without the smoke," he said. "It is just what you expect when you go to a pub. I think eventually the ban will lead to a whole different class of people drinking in pubs across the country. There will be many smokers that will eventually say enough is enough and stay at home."

Gladys Bishop, of Gillam Street, has been making use of one of the new smoking shelters put up at many of the city's pubs.

"I won't let this ban stop me from coming out for a drink and a cigarette," she said. "I can't say I like having to go to a separate room, but it is something I will just have to get used to. And if there was no smoking room then I would go outside."

William Stinton said he too would not let the ban stop him from going out.

"To be honest it doesn't seem all that different," he said. "I certainly wouldn't stop coming out because of it. I'm happy to go outside or in the smoking room."