SCOTLAND took a deep breath yesterday and appeared to adapt quickly to becoming the first part of the United Kingdom to take the historic step of introducing a smoking ban in public places.

With government ministers in England — where similar curbs will come in next year — looking anxiously at how the Scots would take to their new smoke-free circumstances, the first day of the ban passed without much rancour or protest.

Individual smokers in pubs voiced their complaints that their days of a puff with their pint were at an end, but the majority decided to make the best of it and comply.

Scottish ministers chose a Sunday for the start of the ban because it was felt that the more restricted licensing hours would reduce the opportunity for flouting it, a tactic that appeared to pay off.

Jack McConnell, the First Minister, conceded yesterday that there would be pockets of resistance but said that the ban was necessary to reduce deaths from cancer, heart disease and strokes. He said: “I think we’ve got to be realistic about this. There are going to be people who will be inconvenienced by the ban. But I also believe Scotland is a law-abiding country.”

Peter Terry, chairman of the British Medical Association in Scotland, said that the day would be remembered as “the time Scotland took a bold and politically courageous step”.

However Forest, the smokers’ lobby group, condemned the Scottish Executive and accused it of misleading the public over the health impact and economic costs of the ban. The Scottish hospitality sector has given warning that it could lose 142 pubs and 2,500 jobs.

Scotland’s new anti-smoking enforcement officers, drawn from environmental health departments, were seen for the first time in pubs across the country to ensure that no one was breaking the new law. However, they were intent on taking a softly-softly approach, focusing on giving out advice rather than handing out £50 fixed penalty fines.

In the west of Scotland, smokers decided to stay inside pubs and do without their normal cigarette rather than risk going outside and smoking in the rain. In Edinburgh, where the weather was kinder, smokers could be seen lighting up outside pubs before returning inside to finish their drinks.

Pubs on the English side of the border were bracing themselves for a possible surge in trade. The prospect of “smoke commuters” travelling to England to have a cigarette was raised by the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, which said that the ban could be devastating for pubs in the Borders.

Colin Wilkinson, the SLTA’s secretary, said: “There are concerns that where you have two communities that are very close across the border, then this could happen.”

At the Meadow House Pub outside Berwick-upon-Tweed, which describes itself as the most northerly pub in England, David Hearn, the landlord, said it was too early to say whether trade had been boosted.

He said: “It would obviously be a good thing if we picked up a bit of trade but we really don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s early days.”

Across Scotland, smokers resigned themselves to the new restrictions. John Mckenzie, 80, a veteran of the Korean War and a smoker for 60 years, said in a pub on Dumbarton Road, Glasgow: “I never thought I’d see the day when a simple pleasure like having a fag with your pint would be against the law.”

Others said that the ban would encourage them to stop smoking, while bar staff hailed their new working environments. “I’m loving it,” said Kathy Eager, a waitress at a pub in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket area. “I won’t have to go home and scrub the smoke out of my skin.”

Even before the ban came into force, its potential impact on Scottish culture had sparked controversy. Detective Inspector John Rebus, the fictional creation of Ian Rankin, the crime novelist, has suggested that he will retire to Spain in disgust.

If the experience of Ireland, which introduced a ban in 2004, is anything to go by, in virtually all of Scotland’s 5,100 pubs, 1,500 restaurants, 2,400 hotels and 852 nightclubs, the new law will be accepted without fuss and only the occasional incident of “smoke rage”.

The only thing that is likely to get up people’s noses is the smell: without the smoke to cover it up, most drinkers will suddenly realise that, after eight pints of beer, their odours are far from attractive and unlikely to win them success at “smirting” — the new craze of smoking and flirting which is expected to give a lift to many a jaded love life outside pub doors.

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