Pubs, restaurants and entertainment premises like bingo clubs are suffering because of the government-imposed smoking ban in public areas. Local bingo venues are already reporting a slump in profits.

As a result, online bingo sites have seen a dramatic rise in the number of Scottish players who have joined recently, as they take up the opportunity to play at a venue where they can still smoke, at home that is.

Since the ban came into effect three months ago, five bingo halls have been forced to close in Scotland after operators saw a big drop in customers by over a quarter because players were forced to obey the no-smoking rules.

But in that time Scottish bingo has seen online memberships increase by up to 400 per cent according to one site, BingoScotland.com.

Dylan Schlosberg, spokesman for BingoScotland.com, said, ‘When the smoking ban started, we didn’t imagine our membership would increase so rapidly. But as players have the freedom to smoke when they play online in the comfort of their own home, it makes sense that bingo websites have become even more popular.’