On the first full day of the smoking ban yesterday, it was thought a few sneaky smokers would be caught flouting the rules.

But it was not so in the five city centre pubs we visited alongside Geoff Twentyman, the Council's environmental health manager for health and safety, who is charged with making sure the district stays within the letter of the law - or pay the consequences in the form of a prosecution or fine.

Mr Twentyman said: "Myself and my colleagues from environmental health who actually have the duty to enforce the smoke-free regulations are doing some courtesy visits to see if there have been some problems that the landlords have experienced through customers insisting on smoking.

"If we see anybody smoking we will advise the landlord accordingly and give them advice first of all. After that it will be a warning and if it does persist blatantly, then a prosecution is likely."

First we visited The Queen pub on Bridge Street. It was fairly quiet for a weekday. But there were a number of people tucking into their meals. No Smoking signs were displayed clearly at the entrance - something Mr Twentyman must look out for.

The licensee Colin Davies reported no problems so far, just a drop off in drink sales and a subsequent rise in food sales.

He said: "Everything seems to be okay. We had one who just said Is it non-smoking?' and I said Yes, you can't smoke at all' and he went off a bit stroppy.

"You can tell the difference already - you can smell the food better. For me it's great because I'm a non-smoker anyway."

The pub is waiting for a stub-out bin to be delivered so anyone smoking could put out their cigarette before entering the premises - or before returning to their drink.

We walked down the road to our next stop, The Goose. A similar situation here. A small number of people, many having lunch.

Mr Twentyman said: "There was no obvious evidence of anybody smoking. I talked to the licensee and he had two people in on Sunday who were smoking. He asked them both not to. One apparently stopped, the other one stubbed his cigarette out in his beer and stormed out according to the landlord, but didn't cause any aggro. I've advised him to take steps to record information in writing if he has any problems as mitigation."

We popped in next door to The Old Bank, Market Street, where staff were collecting ashtrays, which are no longer needed, and selling them at 50p each, with the money going to Guide Dogs for the Blind.

There were a couple of regulars who were begrudgingly making frequent trips outside. They were easily identifiable by their packets of cigarettes displayed on the table next to their pints. At least it wasn't raining - yet, they said.

Geoff Moor, a 41-year-old, of Little Horton, Bradford, works as a refuse collector for the Council. He said: "When I am drinking in a pub, I smoke very heavily. I don't agree with the smoking ban, because it's not fair to those who smoke. It's already killing off pubs."

Anyone thinking they might be able to shelter from the rain when they went outside to have a quick gasper were in for a rude awakening by our law enforcement officer. If they thought they could huddle together in the pub doorway, they would be contravening the new law, and would have to suffer the rain if they still wanted to indulge their die-hard habit.

Mr Twentyman explained that any customers wanting to light up could not make use of the pub doorway for shelter in adverse weather. The law states that they must step clear of the entrance, out into the complete fresh air before lighting up.

Next we set off up the hill to the Boy and Barrel, in Westgate, where regulars were making good use of a picnic bench and parasol down a side street.

Mr Twentyman explained how the brewery was thinking about adapting a courtyard at the back of the premises, making a more convivial area for smokers.

Further up the street a purple bucket of sand stood outside an entrance to The Star, also on Westgate, already packed with cigarette butts as smokers stubbed out their cigarettes before returning to the warmth of the pub interior to indulge in a quiet, and smoke-free, drink.

But here customers were pretty vocal about the ban, calling on Gordon Brown to make good use of his first days as Prime Minister to overrule the new laws.

One customer, Stephen Murray, of Bierley, believed pubs were going to lose business because of it.

He said: "It's not been a problem for the last 100 years, so why should they tell us what to do now? Having smoking and no smoking areas in pubs worked before this ban. You can't even smoke in the bus shelter outside here. Drinks are being left unattended while people nip outside every five minutes."

Another customer, William Ellis, 69, sat in the pub with an unlit cigar in his mouth, ready for the trip outside. Quite simply, he said: "It's a load of rubbish."

Mr Twentyman said: "Quite a lot of people are smokers at the Star. I've been talking to a few people and one or two of them are rather upset that they can't smoke in a pub legally now. They've put a bucket outside with sand where people can put cigarette ends in, as it's very difficult to put anything up in terms of a shelter at city centre pubs because space is limited."

The smoking ban in enclosed public places came in to effect at 6am on Sunday. As well as buildings, the ban also includes bus shelters with more than three sides and taxis.

The Council has been awarded a grant of 290,000 from the Government to police the rules. This is being spent over the next two years on enforcement and other problems that may arise, such as cigarette butts dropped as litter.

Twenty workers in the environmental health department are trained and have been helping businesses make the necessary changes. They are also responsible for checking premises - and they will be on the look-out for signs of smoking during regular food hygiene and health and safety at work inspections. First they offer advice, then give out a warning.

The final step is prosecution for any persistent offenders. An individual could face a fixed penalty fine of 50 for smoking in areas banned by the regulations, or if the case is prosecuted and they are convicted, fined up to 200.

Businesses also face a fixed penalty notice - this time of 200 for failing to display No Smoking signs. And if they fail to stop someone smoking in their premises, it could result in a fine of up to 2,500.

Anyone wishing to report premises can contact the Council's environmental health service on (01274) 433928.