Smokers fighting new laws to ban their favourite pastime are building up a head of steam.

Members of the Luton Arndale Centre social club are joining forces with puffers from other private clubs and pubs across England to overturn a bill that will see them forced to take their habit outside.

Sean Spillane, 55, who drinks and smokes at the 235-member club, said people as far away as Cornwall and Ireland had been in contact with him since he featured in a story in the Luton News three weeks ago.

"There's a lot of people doing the same thing across the country," he said.

"Groups in Cornwall, Walthamstow, Swindon and County Durham called me and are doing similar things to me. They all got in contact because the Luton News put it on their website."
He added: "They're all trying to link up. They said 'you get yours going no matter how big or small and we will take it to Downing Street'.

"But I don't want to send it to Blair because it will just go in the front and out the back. I want to give it to local MPs and say to them 'do you know you could be out of a job next election because of this?'"

The campaigners are hoping to persuade a government rethink on a ban that will mean smoking in all enclosed public spaces in England and Wales is no longer allowed.

The new law was voted through by the House of Commons in February and comes into force next summer following a ban in Scotland that began life in March this year and the example of one in Ireland.

Mr Spillane started his own campaign to protect the rights of private members clubs to decide their own smoking policy and he said he has already persuaded most people at the Arndale CIU to sign his petition.

But, despite the support coming from other campaigners across the country, he said he was a bit disappointed that more private clubs in Luton had yet to sign up and join his fight.

"I want all private members clubs involved in this – we need a voice," he said.

"The result I would hope to get is that most clubs agree we run our clubs without government intervention. For the first time in CIU history government is dictating how a club is run."

The Luton smoker added that since pro-smoking groups had contacted him he had been given even greater insight into flaws in the government's plans and was even more convinced of the need for reconsidering the blanket ban approach.

He said: "Since the ban was introduced in Ireland, 600 pubs have closed and 12,000 full-time bar staff jobs have gone and smoking has increased. This is from Irish government sources.

"The fact that smoking is going up must be some sort of kick in the teeth for the smoking ban."

He added: "If people are interested in fighting this they can contact me at the social club on 01582 724766."