The pair are arguing that without any breaks, up to a quarter of the UK’s bingo halls could be forced to close after the ban is implemented.
Rank's CEO, Ian Burke, said it was "time to rectify some of the things that have survived longer than they ought to have done", while his Gala counterpart Neil Goulden said that bingo would suffer more from the ban than other activities because 46 per cent of its players smoked.
Both executives, along with the Bingo Association’s chairman Sir Peter Fry, are hoping to meet ministers in the next fortnight to discuss the changes.