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Pub takings have dropped by around 40 per cent since the smoking ban, according to the Sunday Mirror.
An investigation by the newspaper claims to have found that since the introduction of the rule on July 1st, thousands of pubs, clubs and bingo halls are under threat of closure due to reduced profits.
The study claims that small town centre or inner-city pubs and bars have been hit the worst and have lost an average of ten to 20 per cent, often simply because they have no outside smoking area available.
President of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations Shaun Rennison told the newspaper that he expected around 1,000 bars to close.
"Around 50 per cent of pubs in England trade at less than £160,000 per year and those losing 15 per cent of sales would be in a perilous position," he said.
Figures compiled earlier this month by Nucleus Data said that of the 1,500 pubs across the country that they monitored sales were down, but by only 1.3 per cent.
Clive Consterdine, a spokesman for Nucleus Data, added that the figure was considerably lower than expected.
