Vast majority of Scots obey smoking ban--survey

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) Scots have embraced a ban on smoking in public places, with an almost 100 per cent compliance rate in pubs and bars, a survey by Cancer Research UK said today.

The poll found that 99.4 percent of premises inspected by council enforcement officers, including pubs, hotels and restaurants across Scotland, complied with the three-month-old ban.

The survey of more than 1,000 Scottish adults found 24 percent were more likely to visit their local pub because of the ban, while 45 percent said they would go out as often as before.

Only 10 percent said they were likely to go out less often as a result of the legislation, which bans smoking in enclosed public places.

Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control, said the survey should reassure pub bosses who had feared the ban would damage their trade.

''It mirrors the positive experience of other countries that have already gone smoke free,'' King said in a statement.

Between March 26, when the ban was introduced, and April 30 council enforcement officers inspected 15,540 pubs, hotels and restaurants across Scotland, and the results showed 15,452 of them were complying with the ban.

Just three fixed penalty notices were issued to premises for allowing smoking, while three were given to individuals for flouting the legislation and smoking in a non-smoking area.

A similar ban is due to take effect in England next summer.

Ireland banned smoking in restaurants, pubs and workplaces in 2004, and six countries imposed bans of varying severity on smoking in 2005.

A separate survey for the Scottish Executive found that support for the law had increased among non-smokers, those who have quit and current smokers.

The research, carried out between March and May, found that overall 73 percent of people thought the law had been successful or very successful, while 35 percent of smokers said it had helped them cut down the amount they smoked.

But 60 percent of smokers insisted the legislation would not affect the amount they smoked.

REUTERS SK BST0457