THE ban on smoking which came into effect in July last year is beginning to bite hard - especially in local clubs.

But it's not just smoking - there are other issues threatening clubs' viability.

Some club secretaries are even forecasting the end of the working men's clubs as we know them. Wes Wright reports . . .

ONCE upon a time working men's clubs were smoky drinking dens - places where men, and a few hardy women, met for a pint and a game of darts and dominoes and snooker like our picture from Farnworth Vets Club here.

For a few pounds for membership, punters could enjoy the company of their friends, buy cheap drinks, play snooker and watch live entertainment at the weekend.

Sadly those days have long gone and many clubs are struggling as young people shun them and the effect of the smoking ban kicks in.

It's a dire prediction, but now many club owners around Bolton are claiming that up to half of all clubs could be gone within five years.

They cite the smoking ban, rising prices affecting leisure spending, expensive brewery beer and cheap alcohol from supermarkets as the main causes of the club's decline.

Many club stewards say the Government needs to act before clubs are forced to call last orders for the final time.

At Greenfields private members' club in Westhoughton, owner Bill Richards says trade has definitely dropped since the smoking ban was introduced.

"We have a covered area at the back but it is still very cold and many people have told me that they are getting Sky TV put in and buying cheap cans of beer from the supermarkets and staying home, rather than stand outside smoking in the freezing cold.

"But it's not just smoking - it's an accumulation of several things. Utility bills have doubled for people and clubs' business rates are phenomenal. On top of that the brewery price of beers and lagers is high.

"We used to get a licence for £10 for three years but now, since the councils became involved with licensing, they charge us hundreds of pounds - and that's every year.

"I think it is getting so bad that around 50 per cent of clubs and pubs will have disappeared in the next five years."

Greenfields still provides live acts on Saturday and Sunday nights and currently has around 1,200 members.

One club which appears to be bucking the trend is Horwich RMI which makes the best use of its facilities.

Every night of the week there are activities ranging from Weightwatchers clubs, line dancing, private functions, sporting evenings, quizzes and weekend entertainment.

Jim Hickey is the club's operations manager but he is also chairman of Bolton and District Secretaries Association, which represents a wide range of local clubs all over Bolton. "Many clubs will go out of business unless something is done," he said. "It all started many years ago when the drink driving legislation came in, which we agree with, but trade dropped.

"Pubs are closing down as well as clubs and smoking is just another law which has affected club trade.

"Many clubs and pubs are tied to breweries who sell them expensive beer, but a free house can buy beer at up to £100 a barrel cheaper than the tied trade.

"What we need is a special room set aside where people who want to smoke can do so - it's their choice and it's better they are inside than outside in cold weather.

"We will have to accept that some clubs will close because they are unable to handle change - they have to get rid of the old cloth cap image which everyone has of the working men's club."

At Farnworth and District Veterans Club, where Francis Wood is secretary, treasurer Billy Higginson agrees with the pessimistic view about the future of clubs.

"The smoking ban has affected trade badly," he said. "Three pubs have closed in Farnworth recently and pubs and clubs alike are all suffering.

"Since the smoking ban there's been a noticeable drop in people coming in but unless the Government does something quick there's nothing anyone can do.

"Last year's ban on smoking hasn't helped trade and the price of drinks in supermarkets hasn't helped either.

"Supermarkets are selling beer at prices we can hardly get at wholesale prices - when they are selling 24 cans for £10 it works out very cheap per can.

"The cheap prices are just killing the trade because people are buying beer and staying in and smoking at home.

"In summer people don't mind standing around and chatting and smoking but in the winter when it's really cold they don't want to do that."

assistant steward at Tonge Ward Labour Club, Nigel Settle, is even gloomier about the future of clubs.

"The smoking ban is definitely hitting the clubs hard," he agreed. "Our games room used to be full in the week but now it's almost empty.

"People are telling me that they are getting cheap beer and lager from the supermarkets and sitting at home and smoking.

"We have a smoking shelter at the back which is heated by electrical heaters but it is open at the side which lets the wind and rain in.

"Sometimes people are nipping out for a fag while the artist is on and the poor artists end up thinking that people don't like their acts.

"The Government should have let members only clubs make up their own rules on smoking but the Government just went ahead and imposed the smoking ban without talking to anyone."

Tonge Ward Labour Club is a free house, has around 1,000 members and the club also has snooker, darts and dominoes teams as well as regular poker nights to bring in the punters.

Nigel added: "If the smokers don't come in as much as they used to that creates a knock-on effect because their partners and friends don't come in either.

"If the Government stands by and does nothing then that will probably be the final nail in the clubs' coffin."

However, at the Top Club in Little Hulton, steward Malcolm Fletcher says the smoking ban has only had a small impact.

But he too blames the easy availability of cheap alcohol from supermarkets and chain off-licences for many of the problems affecting clubs.

"All the critics keep saying put the tax on booze up even higher - but it's already 70p in the pound on every pint of beer. I hate these surveys of people which say increasing tax on beer will stop binge drinking - they don't know what they are talking about.

"We have provided a smoke shelter at the back of the club which is pretty sheltered from the wind and rain."

He added that 18 years ago takings on a Sunday night would average around £1,700, but now they've dropped to around £600.

He said: "If they are to survive, clubs have to diversify into doing different things, but of course being a member's club, the members take the decisions."

He said at least six pubs and one club in Little Hulton had closed in recent years: "Many clubs are beginning to suffer now and a club only needs one really bad spell and they could go under."

Malcolm said the club sees a good turnout on Saturdays when there's live entertainment, but, like other clubs, he says not many young people attend.

"The people who come in here are around the 50-ish mark," he said. "I think most of the young people go into Manchester and drink very late. Our licence here is only till 11.30pm on a Saturday."