Smoke ban ‘will not affect drink sales’

THE smoking ban will have “no material effect” on drink sales, the owners of Guinness said yesterday.

Diageo, which also controls the Smirnoff and Baileys brands, said its research showed drink sales would fall when the ban was introduced but it was "unclear" what would happen after that.

Chief executive Paul Walsh said the research also showed that for every smoker a pub loses, there may be another who goes to the pub due to the ban.