The bingo halls have some grounds for blaming the government smoking ban for their demise. They are the first casualties of the ban. Nevertheless, most would still say it is a price worth paying for smokeless entertainment and work places.

The smoking majority of bingo players would not agree, and neither might other local businesses who have derived spin-off revenue from the club – pubs, shops, taxis and bus services. It also means five or six fewer pay packets in the town.

But the bingo is also much more than a casual evening's entertainment. For some it is the only excuse to get out of the house and meet people, and make new friends. For older folk, who may be alone, it gives them a secure and stable environment to socialise.

And the group will also help to look after them; noticing if they are not well, or do not turn up when expected.

Even the name, 'Ambassador Regal' has a quaint ring to it, much posher than the reality, but part of the tradition of the game. Bingo was very much a child of the sixties; a way of gambling when other forms were outlawed.

But as the game has grown older, its punters have too, and new young players are not replacing the older ones; so the smoking ban is only part of its demise.

Although the Regal was used for more years as a bingo hall than as a cinema, will people remember in a generation's time, the hold that bingo had right across the country?

In the meantime, there can be little hope that the hall, well-appointed as it is, has any future as a public building, and that is a sad situation in a world where we already seem to spend too much time inside our own homes.

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