Smoking in pubs in England was banned from 1 July 2007, when the law making all enclosed public places and workplaces smoke‑free came into force.

Key dates by UK nation

  • Scotland: Smoking was banned in enclosed public places, including pubs and bars, on 26 March 2006.
  • Wales: The pub and indoor public‑place smoking ban started on 2 April 2007.
  • Northern Ireland: The ban came in on 30 April 2007.
  • England: Pubs, bars, restaurants and other enclosed workplaces became smoke‑free from 1 July 2007.

So if you’re thinking of “when was smoking banned in pubs” in the general UK sense, most people remember the big shift happening around 2006–2007, with England’s 1 July 2007 date often quoted in news and forum discussions.

In everyday conversation, people in England usually say “the smoking ban in pubs came in July 2007”, while Scots will remember it landing a year earlier in 2006.

TL;DR: Smoking in pubs was banned in England on 1 July 2007, with the rest of the UK going smoke‑free in pubs between March 2006 and April 2007.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.