A MAJOR pub operator has revealed that its outlets performed well during the first winter of the smoking ban in Scotland.

The news may provide some reassurance for the licensed trade in York and North and East Yorkshire.

Greene King said it enjoyed steady group-wide trading for the 36 weeks to January 7. The group said its Scottish high street pubs and those with outside areas benefited from strong food sales, offsetting declines in drinks sales.

The Belhaven business in Scotland, which Greene King acquired in 2005, saw retail sales decline 2.8 per cent on last year, which was better than the company's estimates at the time of the acquisition.

Greene King has 300 of its 2,500 pubs in Scotland, where smoking was banned in public places in March last year.

Many analysts questioned the wisdom of the Belhaven deal, and warned that sales could come under pressure this winter.

The Press reported earlier this month how the Mecca bingo hall in Fishergate, York, had applied to build an outside shelter that smokers could use, after the ban comes into effect in England this summer.

Licensees have expressed concern about the effects of a ban, especially since it will extend to all pubs, and not just those which serve food.

However, a number of people involved in the city's licensed trade, who were interviewed by The Press last week, backed the forthcoming ban, saying getting rid of smoke would improve conditions for both customers and staff.

In the rest of the Greene King estate, the Suffolk-based company said sales had been in line with expectations - echoing similar comments from Marston's and Punch Taverns last week.

The 200-year-old brewer, which produces Abbot Ale and Old Speckled Hen beers, said like-for-like sales were up 3.4 per cent at its managed estate over the 36-week period.

The company's Pub Partners arm, which represents Greene King's tenanted sites, was ahead 1.3 per cent, while volumes in brewing were in line with a year ago.

The company offloaded 155 of its venues to Admiral Taverns last month, in a deal worth £56 million.