A CAMPAIGN against Scotland's smoking ban is to be mounted in Levenmouth on the day of its first anniversary.
Norrie Martin, owner of the Kirkland Bar in Methil, is inviting all local publicans and members of the public to join forces on March 26.
Speaking at the meeting will be Ian Robertson of the Publican Party and an expert on air filtration systems.
Mr Martin branded the smoking ban - introduced by First Minister Jack McConnell to protect the public's health - a violation of human rights and slammed the Executive for hypocrisy.
"They are more than happy, in fact they need, to draw in tax revenues from cigarettes but they want to tell people how, when and where to smoke them," he said.
Mr Martin hopes it'll be possible to mount a case to re-introduce enclosed and well ventilated smoking areas in pubs.
It was vital if the pub trade was to survive, he explained.
"The ban has been absolutely disastrous to be honest. During the day, trade has been decimated."
The Kirkland Bar's takings are down between £1000 and £1500 a week and Mr Martin maintained he was certainly not suffering alone.
He commented: "The number of pubs up for sale in Levenmouth is unheard of and people who claim the smoking ban is not affecting them are hiding behind a rock.
"There is no way on this earth that anybody can be sustaining the same level of trade as before.
He added: "They are all selling up because the figures are dropping and there's no way of knowing how low they are going to go."
Billy McPhee, of the Bayview Bar in Methil, reckoned seven Levenmouth pubs had been put up for sale recently - including all three in Lower Methil.
The East Fife Mail had contacted some of them in previous weeks but none stated the smoking ban was the prime reason for selling up.
Mr McPhee commented: "The hard fact is takings are down 20 per cent but the bills don't go down 20 per cent. The overheads don't go down either."
He added the Executive had never considered the wider implications of the ban - which were costing him £100 every week in window repair bills.
"I've had to call the police every Friday and Saturday night for the past four months because youths - up to 20 of them - are taunting the customers smoking outside on the roadside.
"The arguments start and then you get a bottle of Buckfast through the window."
He added: "Of course, the authority's get-out clause is telling a pub to create a smoking area outside, but if you don't have that space, you are forced to have people standing at a roadside.
"The violence that comes from that is something the Executive doesn't want to listen to but if Jack McConnell came in here, he would be told."
The meeting will take place in the Kirkland Bar, Kirkland Walk, Methil at noon on March 26.