The bar where smoking is a thing of the past

Brigantes Bar and Brasserie will be opened on Monday by no-smoking pub pioneers, Market Town Taverns, which last month became the UK's first entirely no-smoking tavern chain.

The two-floor tavern in Micklegate, is based in a Georgian listed building, which was derelict for five years before being refurbished in an initial £220,000 investment by the Knaresborough-based company.

Smoking in pubs and clubs has caused controversy in recent months, with MPs pressing the Government for a total ban in all licensed premises - including members-only clubs.

The Evening Press reported on Monday that working men's clubs across York had called on their members to fight for the right to choose themselves whether smoking is banned on their premises.

Committees have been advised by leaders of the Club and Institute Union to write to their local MPs to "make their feelings known".

The no-smoking tavern takes its name, Brigantes, from the confederation of Celtic tribes which controlled northern England before the Roman invasion. Their ferocity led the Romans to establish York as a fortress supporting a garrison of 6,000 legionnaires to keep them at bay.

The building in Micklegate was the birthplace, in 1803, of Joseph Aloysius Hansom who, among other achievements, invented the Hansom Cab.

Ian Fozard, Market Town Taverns' founder and managing director, said: "We are delighted to be opening in York and bringing our niche market offer to the city."

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DoH) has confirmed bingo halls will be smoke-free under the new rules.

But Steve Baldwin, communications manager for the Bingo Association, said forcing players to stub out would be "bad for business".

York has two main bingo halls - Mecca Bingo, in Fishergate and Clifton Bingo, with hundreds of people playing every week.

A DoH spokeswoman said bingo halls were not classed as private members' clubs so would not be exempt from the new smoking legislation.

Updated: 10:06 Friday, February 10, 2006