KENT County Cricket Club has announced a ban on smoking in any of their stands, seats, club shops, bars, restaurants or hospitality areas at their grounds.

From next April 1, smoking will be restricted to areas behind stands and uncovered seating or in car parks, although the club will continue to monitor the situation at each of its grounds in Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells and Beckenham.

The move comes in response to the 2006 Health Act which prohibits smoking in enclosed public spaces, but the club’s commercial and operations director Jon Fordham said the move was almost inevitable.

He said: "We have been reviewing our smoking policy for the past three years and certain areas of our grounds have been designated non-smoking for some time.

"While the Health Act requires us to extend that ban to other areas, it is quite likely that our annual review would have arrived at the same conclusion anyway."