Smoky, smelly pubs are a drag

I spent last weekend in Hamburg, not far from the Reeperbahn, and brought something nasty back home. Sorry to disappoint, but it was a bag of stinking clothes due to no blanket ban on smoking in pubs.

I’m a non-smoker who is pleased that since the 2007 ban here I haven’t woken up with clothes that smell like they’ve spent the night in Jeremy Clarkson’s mouth.

But since returning from the foggy pubs of Hamburg to my locals, I’ve noticed something shocking.

Without ciggy fumes, my nose picks up all the BO, toilet wafts, carpet vomit, cooked food, stale bar towels and real ale-fuelled male flatulence that’s at the heart of a good British boozer. And I’m not sure what’s worse.