Hmm good point, obviously didn't think of it like that. :)
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Hmm good point, obviously didn't think of it like that. :)
Good news for all you smokers
Council error stubs out smoke ban
Dax Robateau put up "Welcome to Smoke-on-Trent" posters
People are still lighting up in Stoke-on-Trent's pubs after a bureaucratic mistake over the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces.
On-the-spot fines cannot yet be issued to smokers flouting the 1 July ban because of "late changes in technical bits of legislation", the council said.
Landlord Dax Robateau has put cheeky "Welcome to Smoke-on-Trent" posters in The Smithfield pub in Hanley
The authority said it would be able to issue fines from 16 July.
It said it was still able to take action against pubs or clubs where people were smoking and would be able to take retrospective action against any smokers caught flouting the ban.
'Bit miffed'
A spokesman said: "People are obliged to comply with a speeding restriction, regardless if there's a police speed gun nearby.
"The whole government advice and council advice is to advise and educate people in the early days.
"(But) they can still be reported and action can still be taken against them."
Pam Rowland is still enforcing the smoking ban in the Greyhound Inn
Mr Robateau said: "I found out about the loophole when it was in the local paper yesterday and I was just a bit miffed.
"I checked it out and found out it was true so I thought we might as well tell people that the law wasn't enforceable."
But one publican said she did not believe the council would implement the ban retrospectively.
Pam Rowland, landlady of the Greyhound Inn, in Penkhull, said: "It's sort of fun to flout the law and I don't think the council will do much about it because at the end of the day it's their mistake."
She added that she was still enforcing the ban and that most pubs were doing the same thing.
"I think most people are actually sticking with it. It could only happen in Stoke."
The council said the mistake was due to its belief that the city's elected mayor Mark Meredith had the power to delegate the authorisation of the ban to his director of community services.
It said late legal changes meant it realised too late that it would have to be enforced by the licensing and consumer protection committee instead.
It said the committee would delegate powers for officers to issue on-the-spot fines at a meeting on Monday.
So there you go - Enjoy
From what I've seen the ban has been successful around my area. I saw some hairdressers taking a fag break away from the shop (which they left open and unattended) today but apart from that I've not seen anybody smoking around town.
All of the local pubs bar one have seen a huge surge in customers and meals since the ban which is excellent for the local economy. In Weatherspoons they took £1000 more than they usually do just on the first day of the ban. Thats a heck of a lot of money for the small town I live in :thumbsup:
chris.. I thought the same too when smoke ban came here nearly 3 years ago now but we have kept it working well here and as a smoker I am fully in favour of it all.. I found it really hard to sit in a pub in germany cause it was so smokey and I ended up going outside most of the time. I welcome smoking ban everywhere.. it is much better drinking enviornment and you get to met loads of new people when you nip out for one
I think the ban is a good idea, as it seems unfair to make those that are choosing not to smoke find somewhere else to go so as to not breath in smoke, because it is the smoker's choice to smoke.
I am just back from a fortnight in France - it seems that (almost) everryone smokes there!
From smoke free Scotland to fuggy France was quite a culture shock!
I really appreciate the lack of smoking in Scottish pubs resturants and sports arenas etc even more.
I couldn't beleive the number of people smoking underneath the wooden rollarcoaster at Parc Astrix - there were signs up but there were universally ignored.
I heard something on the news this morning that totally shocked me.. some guy was shot in the face for telling people in a night club in London that they can't smoke anymore.
it is all here: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...276684,00.html
I was totally shocked that this happened
Absolutely disgusting!! Who would do such a thing like that?! I hope he recovers and those men are caught.