EAST Yorkshire MP Greg Knight has joined celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson to bolster a campaign aimed at amending the current smoking ban to help the pub and club industry.

Conservative MP Mr Knight said pubs and clubs were at the heart of every local community and the UK approach of banning indoor smoking everywhere was damaging the viability of many licensed premises where people wish to smoke.

He said: “I fully support this campaign. Pub landlords and club committees know best what their customers want and they should be allowed to provide smoking rooms if there is a demand.”

One of the changes Mr Knight hopes will be considered is the adoption of the Spanish model – where venues with limited floor space can choose to be smoking or non-smoking, but venues larger than 100 square metres can have a designated, fully-partitioned, smoking room.

He was also proposing the smoking of tobacco be allowed in venues that can secure a licence by ensuring an agreed level of ventilation and air quality in all areas.

The campaign is calling for urgent consideration of the changes to halt a decline that has seen six pubs closing every day, according to the British Beer and Pub Association.

Mr Worrall Thompson said: “Modern ventilation systems combined with separate rooms make it perfectly acceptable to smoke indoors.”