A PUBLICAN is launching a campaign to reverse the smoking ban in pubs.

John Davis, who runs The Plough in New Romney with his wife Christine, says that his takings have plummeted 25 per cent since the ban came into effect in July.

He said: "We bought this pub two years ago and business was good but as soon as this ban came in our customers started disappearing.

"It’s not just us, it’s happening to pubs all over the place. All those government assurances that non-smokers were going to appear out of the woodwork is simply never going to happen.

"They’re just not pub people."

According to 50-year-old Mr Davis, most days his pub is a picture of empty chairs and tables.

Full story in the Hythe and Romney Marsh edition of the Kentish Express