Weather proof gambling machines take £1 coins and play a pared-down version of bingo - Rank, which runs the Mecca Bingo brand, has put some very strange plans in place to cope with the smoking ban. Players will face a choice of puffing on a cigarette or ticking off numbers in search of that elusive full house with the upcoming ban.

Mecca keen they should not miss out on playing time, has installed weatherproof outdoor machines. When fed with a £1 coin, they will play a cut-down form of bingo in which players will furiously flip shutters as numbers are called.  I wonder if they plan to offer free Mecca branded scarf’s and mitts too.

Mecca is also in early stage testing of five different types of portable bingo palm devices. The initial attraction is that bingo addicts could run several cards at once without going cross-eyed. A Mecca spokesman dubbed them "Bingo for the PlayStation generation” – clearly a slightly out of date view as he should have said for the Wii generation but hey ho.

Surely portable devices will mean a loss of community although bingo players could roam freely, indoors and out, perhaps puffing away with one hand while jabbing numbers with the other – won’t they miss their buddies? Rank is coy on exact plans – saying only there are lots of opportunities. Mecca clearly hopes to stave off repeating its 15% drop in revenue in Scotland, when the smoking ban came in last year.

Anything Rank can do to minimise the impact of the smoking ban will be well received by their shareholders who are currently weary of the future.