As the smoking ban looms, far fewer are kicking the habit

With almost half of Britons unaware that it will be illegal to smoke in public places from 1 July, new figures reveal there has been a dramatic slump in the number of smokers kicking the habit.

Anti-smoking campaigners are now calling on the Government to capitalise on the ban by running stop-smoking adverts and increasing tobacco taxation.

Spending on stop-smoking adverts was slashed from £22m in 2005 to only £13m in 2006, according to information released this month under the Freedom of Information Act. This was accompanied by the figures for people quitting smoking falling by 10,000 - from 76,000 during April to June 2005 to 66,000 for the same quarter in 2006.

But the Government hit back last night, stressing it is on track to reduce smoking to 21 per cent of the population by 2010 and that the ban's sole objective is to protect people from smokers rather than make smokers quit.

Andrew Black, head of the Department of Health's Smokefree campaign, said: "This isn't about a witch hunt against smokers - it is about promoting healthier and cleaner atmospheres."

A new opinion poll being released by the Department of Health this week will show that 99 per cent of businesses say they are ready for the ban. Officials claim that 88 per cent are said to have no confusion or worry over it, but they admit that just 68 per cent know that it is just weeks away from actually happening.

This figure is even lower among the general public, with Public Health Minister Caroline Flint admitting earlier this month that 45 per cent of the overall population do not know that the ban comes into force on 1 July.

In the final run-up to the ban, employers will be reminded to close down smoking rooms and a new television advert, warning people that they risk being fined if they refuse to comply, will be shown in the two weeks before the ban begins.

The results of a new YouGov opinion poll being released by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) this week will show a record proportion of smokers - some 40 per cent - are planning to quit by July next year. The Cold Feet actor John Thomson said: "My wife and I are both going to try and give up smoking. With the smoking ban coming in, it makes sense to really try and quit."

Many companies are now actively encouraging their workers to stop smoking. This comes as new guidelines on workplace smoking, released by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence this month, recommend that employers develop stop-smoking policies and allow workers time off to try to quit.

But Simon Clark, director of Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking (Forest) dismisses the idea that millions may kick the habit. "Smokers will simply adapt. The idea that large numbers will give up is simply fantasy," he said. The group claims that the real agenda is to force people into quitting.

Meanwhile, breweries have been spending millions in transforming traditional beer gardens into open-air smoking dens. Customers puffing away under parasols and outdoor heaters are now a common sight outside bars and restaurants around the country. The Ivy in London intends to get around the ban by having open-air rooftop conversions.

Smokers will make a last stand at a Forest "Revolt in Style" dinner at the Savoy Hotel in London a week before the ban. Guests will include David Hockney, who has condemned the ban as a "grotesque piece of social engineering... imposed easily by a political and media elite".

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