Pub landlord fights smoke ban by declaring his boozer an embassy

For pub-goers who enjoy a cigarette with their drink, next week's ban will make England a very different place.

Landlord Bob Beech has claimed to have found a loophole to fight the new law - by declaring his pub to be part of a different country.

The Wellington Arms in Southampton is set to transform itself from a public house into the official embassy for a tiny Caribbean island.



If it is successful, the pub would be classified as "foreign soil", allowing smokers a haven from the smoking laws covering the rest of the UK.

In theory it would then also be allowed to serve cheaper drinks because the pub would be exempt from VAT.

Yesterday a spokesman from the Department of Health confirmed that if the pub was granted embassy status then it would be exempt from next month's national smoking ban.