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It has saved lives, cleared the air and led to thousands quitting smoking in Kent alone.

But one year on today, and the national smoking ban has had mixed results across the county.

Many pubs and bars have suffered a downturn in trade as smokers opted to stay away, while others say business is still booming.

Kent brewery Shepherd Neame spent more than £3million in the past year - around £10,000 per pub - providing canopies, pergolas, giant umbrellas, lighting and patio heaters, but say the spend had paid off.

Mark Copestake, landlord of the White Hart, Canterbury, said his pub had actually increased its beer sales over the past year.

He said: "We were forward-thinking - we started planning for this even before the White Paper was published.

"We do see a lot of people on the basis that they can sit outside and enjoy a cigarette in comfort."

Phil Thorley, operations director of Thorley Taverns which runs dozens of pubs across Kent, said: "Reaction to the smoking ban depends on which side you look at it from - commercially it has been quite a challenge but it has been welcomed by non-smokers and even by some who do smoke.

"The air quality in pubs has certainly improved and we have had minimal reports…of people deliberately breaking the ban in our outlets.

"Mind you, there is still something about the old fashioned image of enjoying a pint with a cigarette or cigar."

Louise Neary became tenant of the Chequers at Doddington, near Faversham, last year and only decided to take on the pub because of the ban.

Louise said: "It’s one thing working in a pub and going home but I could not have lived with it 24/7, with smoke drifting up through the ceiling into the living areas.

"Everyone has accepted it - we haven’t had any trouble."

But it has not been such a happy year for Peter Brown, who runs The Greyhound in Wheeler Street, Maidstone.

He said: "Trade is worse than when the ban first came in. I'm retiring as soon as I can."

Tony Saxby, publican at the Bat and Ball in Canterbury and chairman of the local Licensed Victuallers Association, was equally angry about the new laws.

He said : “I don’t think it has done anyone any favours.

“The smoking ban is just another hardship, another problem that people have to face. It has been quite devastating for the smaller, more traditional pubs.”

However, the number of people packing up the habit has proved more encouraging.

Nationally, the number of people who decided to pack up permanently jumped 20 per cent to more than 400,000 quitters, and the news is equally good in Kent.

The Stop Smoking Service for Eastern and Coastal Kent estimates a 15 to 20 per cent increase in people wanting to give up, while West Kent PCT saw 4,571 people quit smoking between April 2007 and March 2008, compared with just 2,803 in 2006-2007.

Dr Syed Arshad Husain, consultant respiratory physician at Maidstone Hospital, said: "Patients at my clinic tell me the ban has helped them give up, as they are not surrounded by smoke when they go out."