A restaurant with two sites in the North-East has joined the growing number of buildings to ban smoking.

Oldfields, in Claypath, Dur-ham, and in Jesmond, Newcastle, has imposed the ban for a two-month trial period. Customers are also being asked to vote on whether the ban should be permanent.

Owner Bill Oldfield said: "Fewer people smoke, but in open-plan establishments like ours, it's very difficult to limit smokers to a certain area - as others have tried - and for the smoke not to have an effect on non-smoking customers.

"The other reason is that we want people to enjoy the full experience of eating with us - and that includes being able to smell the food as well as taste it."

A former smoker who quit about 14 years ago, Mr Oldfield said he had nothing against those who smoked.

He said: "We decided to impose the ban - it's more of a polite request - for a trial period, and are asking custom-ers and anyone else who may have a view, to post it on our website. The reaction will tell us whether to extend the experiment."

The web address is www. oldfieldsrestaurants.co.uk