HUNDREDS of North pubs will ban drinkers from smoking at the bar amid growing concern over the effects of passive smoking.

Five of the country's biggest pub chains have agreed to introduce a ban after they asked customers what they wanted.

They have fallen short of introducing a complete ban like that introduced by the Irish government, fearing it will hit trade and jobs.

Two of the chains include Punch and Scottish and Newcastle, which between them have almost 600 leased pubs in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Martyn Gray, commercial director for Scottish and Newcastle Pub Enterprises, said its licensees were being asked to sign up to a voluntary code by the end of next year.

Mr Gray dismissed suggestions the move was made because companies did not want to introduce a complete smoking ban. He said: "We are talking about customer choice and this, if anything, is a sensible option.

"There will be parts of pubs designated smoking areas and other parts where licensees will take our advice and create areas for non-smokers.

"We do not want what has happened with pubs in Ireland as that would be an imposition on our business."

A spokesman for Punch said it wanted no-smoking areas to be introduced in most of its outlets, and said it had written to licensees asking them to make plans.

He said: "We will continue to highlight the importance of smoking to our pubs and urge them to be proactive in tackling the issue and responding to customer needs.

"Ultimately if we do not self-regulate our industry in this way, someone else might."

The move to ban smoking at the bar mirrors that in place at pub chain Wetherspoon.

Neil Hetherington, landlord of the Nags Head, in Sedgefield, County Durham, backed the pub chains' move.

He said: "This ban on smoking cannot come quick enough for us. Already we do not allow smoking in the restaurant, but at the moment people can still smoke in the lounge and other areas."

According to the British Beer and Pub Association, within five years, 80 per cent of pub space will be non-smoking. However, it said a complete ban would mean the closure of 5,000 pubs and the loss of 75,000 jobs.

Darcy Brown, a stop smoking specialist who works in Darlington, said: "It is a step in the right direction, but does not go far enough to protect people's health.

"Smoke drifts. It cannot read signs saying 'this is a non-smoking area', and people will still be breathing the same poisonous gases."

* There has been a drop in cigarette sales in Ireland since the ban came in.

The state's tobacco market fell by 7.5 per cent in the first six months of the year, according to the country's largest cigarette manufacturer, Gallaher.