PEOPLE quitting smoking as their New Year resolution can visit a pub in Accrington without the temptation of lighting up -- as it is named Lancashire's only smoke-free pub.

The Accrington Pride pub, in Blackburn Road, has been a non-smoking establishment ever since Mary and Ray Pilkington bought it more than two years ago.

And this year it was given the best thumbs-up possible when 19 doctors and nurses decided to hold their Christmas meal there.

Mrs Pilkington said: "We used to live next door to the pub and suffered years of smoke filtering through the skirting boards.

"So we decided to buy the pub and make it smoke-free.

"We never considered having separate sections. It just doesn't work."

Dr Steve Morton, Accrington's director of public health, said: "It's such a refreshing change to walk into a clean, smoke-free pub where you can smell home-cooked food, and lounge on a clean, cream sofa.

"Not only is it pleasant for all the customers, but it protects the staff too."