Rank plans to close its Wolverhampton Mecca bingo club ahead of a nationwide smoking ban.

Nine UK sites in all are set to close, including the Reading club made famous last October when Prince William spent an evening playing bingo with Army friends. The planned closures are expected over the next few weeks and will affect 230 jobs, although Rank said it hopes to relocate some staff.

The other sites are at Fulham, west London, Islington, north London, Kingston-upon-Hull, Liverpool, Sheffield, Swansea and Welling.

Rank, which will still be the UK’s second largest bingo club operator with 103 clubs, said the decision was made as part of its preparations for this summer’s introduction of smoking bans.