Since July last year when the smoking ban first came into effect in England and Wales, pubs have seen a significant drop in custom. If you have increasingly spotted pubs with boarded-up doors and windows recently, that's because many have had to shut down as a result of the smoking ban. Now that the general public is starting to feel the pinch economically as well, most landlords are worried about their livelihoods.

That is, of course, a great shame for them personally and their families. But shouldn't we also consider the loss to society and communities? With every pub that is forced to shut its doors, a social meeting place for local residents disappears. For many people and particularly the elderly the pub is often a social lifeline.

Many pubs have been forced to invest in the construction of "smoking shelters". These provide relatively protected areas for smokers to indulge their habit, but have also been socially divisive as smokers feel marginalised and "fenced in" and are often accused of breaking up the party.

As a smoker, the smoking ban is incredibly frustrating for me. When I'm drinking in the pub with friends and I feel the urge to smoke, on the one hand I want to light up immediately. On the other hand I feel that I would be anti-social by leaving my friends in mid-conversation to indulge my addiction in my sad little smoking shelter.

I have spoken to many publicans since the smoking ban came into law and not one of them has spoken out in favour of the ban. Obviously there are some pubs, those with outside space and good cooking/dining facilities, who have been able to replace some of the lost custom from the smoking ban with family customers who would not normally have gone to a pub. But the real authentic British pubs, those that were centres for the community, are those that have suffered most from the smoking ban.