By Jean Kingdon

PUB landlords say they are disappointed and puzzled by intended laws to ban smoking in pubs serving prepared food.

By the end of 2008 smoking will be banned in the 90% of Britain's pubs that serve food.

Licensees, especially in rural areas, will have to decide on whether to alienate smoking customers or give up the lucrative food trade.

At The Stables in Craven Arms, landlord Mike Sykes was still undecided on how to react.

"I'm not too sure what I'll be doing," he said. "I had hoped to see lots of diners coming here from the new market yard office development.

"I was hoping they would want lunches or if not then just to have a smoke and a drink."

"Basically the law is an ass. This seems to be a panic move.

"The Government thought it had to do something.

"The trade had hoped they would go for separate areas and that would have made sense," he added.

In Bishop's Castle, "Big Nev" Richards, at The Six Bells was also undecided as to what the legislation will mean.

"We'd already declared our dining room as a no-smoking area and that should be enough," he said. "To make a choice of a food pub or a smoking pub makes this a mockery. There is nothing anywhere in the world like an English pub and we should be preserving this."

At the popular Church Inn, where meals are a big part of the daily business, general manager Bonnie Mold erred on the side of caution.

"We are going to have to think hard," she said."We have two non-smoking areas and none of our customers have complained either way.

"The meals here are very important but on the other hand a lot of our customers smoke and they deserve to be considered in this."