CLUBBERS are to be sprayed with the scent of freshly cut grass to hide the smell of sweat and stale beer after the new smoking ban begins.

Nightclub bosses are so concerned about the absence of cigarette smoke to disguise other odours that they have developed the 'sexy' perfume to be dispensed through the air conditioning system.

The fragrance is set to be pumped into Blackburn's Liquid and Envy and Burnley's Lava and Ignite nightclubs after the ban on smoking in enclsoed spaces comes into force at 6am on Sunday.

It is hoped that the perfume will not only disguise nasty pongs but will also create a heightened sensual clubbing experience for revellers, and maybe even spark romance.

Club owners Luminar Leisure developed the scent after polling 3,000 clubbers to find out what smells they liked.

The resulting bespoke fragrance, called Hydra-Spa, is described as a fresh blend of sparkling citrus and marine notes, crisp fruits and green herbal accents.' It incorporates the natural smells of cut grass and the ocean, found to be the the poll favourites.

Similar fragrance systems are used in hotels and supermarkets but this is the first time it has been used in nightclubs. Trials have taken place at the chain's clubs in Scotland and Wales, where the smoking ban is already in place.

Paul Stray, manager of Liquid and Envy, said: "It gets very busy on the weekend. People get very hot, they are dancing and spilling drinks. Some of our clubs in Scotland and Wales have found that tobacco smoke was actually hiding some of the resulting unpleasant smells.

"We want our clients to enjoy their experience here - in a girl-meets-boy situation everybody wants to be looking and smelling their best."

Paul Biscomb, deputy manager of Lava and Ignite, added: "We were prepared for the ban in the sense that we already have a terrace for smokers to stand on, but now we are going to be able to deal with some of the side effects of the ban that we had not anticipated. You will be walking around a club that is smoke free and smells great - everyone's a winner."

Luminar Leisure has also been looking at the theory that the sense of smell can be used to evoke pleasant feelings and memories in clubbers. A spokesperson said: "Smell can create strong emotions. If a person smells a certain scent while they are having a good night out, the next time they smell that scent, even if it is in a different situation, then they relate it to the good time they had and they will want to go back."

The two clubs are also looking at the possibility of aligning different scents with specific club nights, such as the scent of sun cream for Ibiza tunes or chocolate and roses for Valentine's Day.

Geoff Sutcliffe, landlord of the Rising Sun pub in Wilpshire and Blackburn representative for the Licensed Victuallers Association, said: "Without the smoke there is bound to be an issue with body odour, especially at weekends when it is busy.

"We have told people to expect it and I have suggested that pubs don't remove their smoke filters straight away as they might still be of some use."

A spokesperson for the British Beer and Pub Association said: "This is the first time we have heard of perfume being used to mask odours in clubs, although the issue of air purification is always a high priority in drinking establishments."

Exhaled smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including nitrogen oxide, found in car exhausts, and ammonia, found in hair dye. As a result tobacco odour is strong and distinctive, masking other smells.

Sweat is odourless but if it is left on the body bacteria begins to grow and produce an offensive odour.

The smell of cut grass is created by the release of chlorophyll, the green pigment that gives grass its colour.

The sense of smell is linked to romantic attraction - the area of the brain responsible for perceiving aromas is interconnected with the area that processes emotions.

The Romans understood the link between smell and sexual attraction. They used perfumes lavishly, including scents made with secretions of the civet cat and the sperm whale.