The smoking ban in Wales could be delayed until July to coincide with the one in England, following a free vote by Welsh Assembly Ministers (AM) on the issue.
Three AMs intend to challenge the assembly government, which wants the ban to be introduced on 2 April.
Karen Sinclair, AM for Clwyd South, Ann Jones, AM of Vale of Clwyd, and Glyn Davies, AM for Mid and West Wales, are concerned that pubs in border areas will suffer as they will lose smoking customers who will cross to pubs in England.
Sinclair said: “I’ve got quite a few villages where pubs are very close together across the border and I do worry that smoking commuters will choose to go across the border.
“And when you are talking about 13 weeks’ difference in the smoking ban implementation dates, that’s a significant length of time that could have a significant economic impact on small pubs.”
The AMs are due to vote on the date of the smoking ban after a debate in the Senedd.
