A BREATH of fresh air is on its way to Liverpool city centre. The ECHO has teamed up with Fiona Watkin, landlady of Thomas Rigby's Pub on Dale Street, who has agreed to ban smoking from her watering hole for one week. The experiment is backed by Smoke Free Liverpool, the campaign to make the citya healthier place to live and work in time for 2008. Mrs Watkin, 33, smokes almost 40 cigarettes a day and has worked in bars since she was 18. It was during a recent trip to the United States that Fiona was converted to the benefits of smoke free pubs and restaurants. She said: "A few months ago, if anybody had asked me to make my pub smoke-free I would have laughed at the idea. "But I recently went on honeymoon to Las Vegas and the difference was amazing. "My husband and I both smoke and we really cut down on the number of cigarettes and although we haven't given up completely, it means we are both a lot healthier and closer than ever to kicking the habit." Throughout the week-long experiment, Liverpool council's environmental health department will install chemical monitoring equipment in the pub to test for levels of cancercausing toxins. Thomas Rigby's, one of the city's oldest pubs, opened in 1850 and last year underwenta major refurbishment. Mrs Watkin admits she is taking a gamble but her bold decision has already won the backing of her 16 staff at Rigby's, around half of whom smoke themselves, and of course, many of the pub's regulars. "The staff and regulars who want to smoke can still do so in the beer garden," Fiona added. "But inside will be out of bounds. "I have no idea how successful it will be. I hope that people, smokers and non-smokers, support what we are doing and get into the spirit of the experiment." Mark Brandreth, project director for Smoke Free Liverpool, said: "During the week, we will be monitoring toxin levels at the pub and speaking to staff and customers about how they feel about the scheme. "We will also be offering help and advice to anybody who wants it." The Smoke Free experiment begins at Rigby's on Monday, September 6. Throughout the week the ECHO will be providing daily reports from the pub, speaking to customers and staff to see whether banning smoking is a hit or a miss for city drinkers. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ mikehornby@liverpoolecho.co.uk | 
News RSS Feed