PUBS and clubs throughout Gwent face a race against time to be ready as the ban on smoking looms.

With licensees concerned about the effect the ban could have on business, many are hoping to provide comfortable outdoor facilities for customers who smoke.

For city or town centre pubs and clubs which are hemmed by other buildings, the prospect of providing outside space, such as smoking shelters or beer gardens, is tricky.

The Reflex nightclub on High Street, Newport, is also awaiting the outcome of applications to erect a covered beer garden at the back of the club.

Manager Holly Edwards said the club had applied to the council for a paving licence but fears it may be rejected due to the close proximity of residential flats.

"It's going to be difficult. The only other option we have is to stamp people's hands so they can come in and out," she added.

Keith Pretlove, duty manager at the Wetherspoons on Cambrian Road, said the pub would erect a canopy over an outside seating area at the front of the pub in the summer months.

But he said Newport City Council were refusing to allow the area outside of British Summertime.

The Handpost on Bassaleg Road are hoping to develop an unused area at the back of the pub into a fully-heated and covered beer garden before then April 2 ban.

Landlady Carol Chapman said it was important to create a pleasant atmosphere for smokers and non-smokers.

"We are concerned we may lose trade because of the ban but we think other people may come out because it will be a cleaner environment for families," she said. "But we also must cater for the smokers."

Judy Gribble, who owns the Castle Inn, in Caldicot, has already banned smoking there and says the decision has been the making of her pub.

It was last week named best in Wales by the Morning Advertiser, after going no-smoking in October.

Mrs Gribble, 47,said: "The decision to go no-smoking was a gamble but hasn't affected us at all and the food's really taken off. That income is now 50-50 with the drink.

"We don't smoke and the pub is just one room with very low ceilings. It's OK in summer but in winter the smoke just sits there and we said with the winter coming we had to go no smoking.

"There's been no problem with the customers - they just go outside. Business has definitely gone up since we banned smoking."

For The Bell Inn, in Caerleon, April 2 will not mark the start of a new non-smoking era but the end of their first smoke-free year.

And landlord Tony Willicombe says the non-smoking policy has been a great success.

"We are probably doing better now than before. There has been an increase in food sales since we went non-smoking and those who do smoke don't mind going outside."

The pub spent hundreds of pounds on an outdoor sheltered smoking area, and provides a large sand pit for cigarette butts.

Councils throughout Gwent said they have prepared for the ban by meeting with licensees to educate them about the new law. Extra staff are also being employed to enforce the ban.