RESTAURANT owners would welcome a complete ban on smoking in all public places, said an industry leader yesterday.

Philip Barnett, chairman of the restaurant division of the Chamber of Commerce, said his members were heavily in support of such a ban, as outlined in a bill that has been tabled in the House of Assembly by Shadow Health Minister Michael Dunkley.

"Members of the restaurant division brought it up as an issue and the consensus among members was that, as long as the ban is complete and wide-ranging, like in New York, Toronto, Vancouver or Ireland, they would be supportive of it," Mr. Barnett said.

"There is a significant health risk from second-hand smoke and restaurant owners are cognisant of that."

The Government has announced plans to curb promotion and advertising of tobacco and that it is considering pushing a ban on smoking in public places. Mr. Dunkley has put forward his own bill, in association with his United Bermuda Party colleagues, to try to "get the ball rolling".

Some restaurants have already imposed their own smoking bans and Mr. Barnett, president of the Hog Penny, Barracuda Grill and Pickled Onion, explained why others, despite being supportive of a complete ban, had not.

"Some customers would certainly be put out by a smoking ban and that's why individual restaurants have chosen very carefully whether to go non-smoking," Mr. Barnett said.

"In my own experience, I can talk about the Barracuda Grill. We took six months of asking everyone who made a reservation for their smoking preference and recording the figures, before we decided to become a non-smoking establishment.

"Some smoking customers said they would never eat at the Barracuda Grill again. That's a difficult thing for us to hear. But over 95 per cent of our requests had been for non-smoking tables. We made this decision very carefully. We are in the people-pleasing business."

Mr. Barnett said he believed most smokers, particularly in dining establishments as opposed to bars, were polite and considerate of others.

Both the Pickled Onion and the Hog Penny serve food, but are also major bars. Neither has banned smoking. Mr. Barnett said he had noticed no decrease in bar smoking in recent years.

"Bar owners will be happy to put a smoking ban in place, as long as there's no other bar where people can go to smoke," Mr. Barnett said.

Tourists who wanted to visit a local restaurant would not be shocked at a smoking ban, he added. "Most of our visitors come from the US east coast and they'd be hard-pressed at home to find a place that allows smoking.

"It's not a case of infringing on smokers' rights to smoke, it comes down to non-smokers' right to enjoy an environment without smoke.

"I don't smoke and I've been in this industry for 15 years. It's of concern to me, the amount of second-hand smoke I've been around. It's also a concern for my staff.

"They don't have a choice, they have to work in those conditions. It's hard enough, as it is, to find locals and others who want to come into the hospitality industry."

He said a ban would probably mean that bar owners would have to establish under-cover outdoor areas for smokers.