A DUNDEE publican has become living proof of the new smoking ban’s worth as a measure to improve public health.

Bar manager Bill Wallace has spent the past 40 years inhaling other people’s smoke as a bar worker in licensed premises across the city.

Mr Wallace accepted the musty bar atmosphere—and the detrimental health effects—as part of the job until the new smoking ban came into force last month.

However, he was shocked when Dundee University scientists were able to show him just how badly the nicotine smog had affected his health.

In just one month, doctors have told him his lung capacity has increased by 25% and his lust for life has rocketed as well.

Mr Wallace, who owns the Wallace Arms in Lochee with his wife Beryl, said he was “shocked, but delighted” by the findings.

“I’m amazed by the improvement in such a short space of time and I couldn’t believe it when the doctor told me,” he said.

“It’s incredible, I have felt a lot better over the last month. I can see where the ban has made a real difference—when you’re working in the bar, day-in and day-out and you don’t have to breathe in other people’s smoke.”

Dr Daniel Menzies, who has been carrying out tests on 120 bar staff throughout Tayside, said he could not comment on Mr Wallace’s results.

However, he confirmed that it would be fair to say those taking part in the study were “feeling better.”

“When the ban was announced, we asked bar staff in the region to take part in tests over a period of two months,” he said.

“We are gathering the information from the first month following the introduction of the ban on March 26, but it’s too early to say what the answers to the study’s findings are yet because we still have some people to test as well as a second series of tests for the second month.

“However, it would be fair to say that on the whole people appear to be feeling better. With regard to Mr Wallace, there did appear to have been an improvement in his lung capacity and the level of lung inflammation.”

Mr Wallace’s improving condition was discovered through a series of blood samples and tests involving breathing apparatus. Dr Menzies said the data he was gathering would hopefully provide an insight into the ban’s effect on candidates with respiratory conditions, including asthma.

“There has definitely been a marked improvement from anyone suffering from respiratory conditions,” he said.

The study will see all candidates undergo a further series of tests in May, before Dr Menzies and Professor Brian Lipworth, head of the department of asthma and allergy research, analyse their findings and present a report in six to eight weeks.