It’s reported that the Castle on Oldham Street, Robinsons’ only outlet in Manchester City Centre, has closed. Apparently, following the smoking ban, the pub, which has no outside area suitable for smokers, had experienced a decline in trade of 60%. Now it has to be said that the Castle, although undeniably characterful, was a dingy pub much in need of refurbishment, but that was the case a year ago too, and so the catastrophic drop-off in trade cannot really be put down to anything but the ban. Yet more proof that the claim that the ban would attract new customers to pubs was complete wishful thinking.