Bingo Company Beacon Bingo has invested £60,000 into a smoking shelter that is planned to house fruit machines and bingo units that will allow the customers to play and smoke at the same time, someting that had become a thing of the past since the introduction of the smoking ban over 2 years ago.

The Beacon bingo Club in Loughborough has tried various schemes including the sale of fake cigarettes but were deemed to be unsuccessful with very few being sold.

Kevin Farmsworth, general manager commented "As part of the £60,000 refurbishment, we want to enclose the smoking area with machines outside about three or four of them. Smokers cant play inside the club which is a massive problem. We did have a cigarette that you could smoke indoors but we did not sell many of them so it has gone by the wayside"

The enclosed area can only be accessed by walking through the club to ensure the security of the area and prevent the under age and non-members from entering the newly built facility

The are has not yet been completed but is in the late stage of planning to the local Charnwood Borough Council and a full decision on the granting of the scheme is expected within the next month.