Pensioners are launching a legal battle against a smoking ban which stops them lighting up in the communal room of their sheltered housing.
Residents at Colwell Court on Snowberry Road, Dovecot, Merseyside, said the ban has ruined their social life.
CDS, the housing association which runs the home, deemed the room a public place, which makes it subject to the no-smoking legislation.
Resident Charles Lucas, said he hopes to get "legal aid" to fight the ban.
"If I get legal aid I'll go to court and let the judge decide"
Mr Lucas said: "There is no reason it should be classed as a public area - it's a private place, it belongs to us and we pay a service charge.
"If I get legal aid I'll go to court and let the judge decide.
"We all socialised together, we had a game of bingo and used to play cards, but we can't play cards anymore because we can't play and smoke."
A spokesman for CDS said they have been advised by Smoke Free England that the communal areas of sheltered schemes are not exempt from the national ban which came into force in July.
CDS said: "Residents are able to smoke in their own accommodation within the scheme."
But even non-smoking residents are calling for the ban to be lifted.
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