smoking ban

[mrspirite]

can someone please clear this up for me.i was in my local the other night,and before my wife and i left,the doors had been locked and curtains shut The bar staff and customers left in,proceeded to light up.They believe that it is legal to do this,because the pub is closed.I don't think it is.Please can someone settle this argument.

[CheekyChops]

It probably isn't but then again, it isn't legal to be in the pub after locking up time either!

I must admit that they also do this at the local pubs round where I live.

[squarebear]

And mine. The thinking is that it is now the landlords home rather than a pub and the customers are his invited guests.

I don't think it's legal myself.

[redcrx]

as far as i know its still illegal even after closing time as it a public place.
They can smoke in their own private quarters but not in public bar.

[frank jury]

So who cares , let them go.
Go to France where they have the same law and try stopping a frenchman from smoking in a cafe with his morning coffee!.
We have more than enough petty laws already stifling our lives. Worry about " REAL CRIME". That's out of control!!

[RevFunk]

I agree with Frank.

Who cares as long as they are consenting.

[hammerman]

Maybe the non smokers who have to breathe the s**t in care about it.

[RevFunk]

How exactly is a non smoker going to breathe in smoke if they are all smokers???

I take it then Hammer that at least 8p on your income tax wouldnt bother you then if the duty on fags was abolished.

And by the way fatties and alcoholics cost the NHS more than smokers so are we going to ban lard and beer next?

[frank jury]

You breathe in more "S**T" in a ten minute traffic jam than you do in a pub! The excessive drinkers cause more threat of damage to health . We worry about offending the feelings and freedoms of "Minorities" but 20% of the population smoke and most of the 80% who do not never go near a pub .

[tiara4321]

well they should of done smoking pubs and non smoking pubs i hate going out for a meal or pub as feel like a insulted having to stand in the cold so the companies lose the smokers money not very good for the economy. my sister doesnt smoke and she says its really anoying cos her mates are popping out all the time and she doesnt want to be left in pub on her own so thinks its the worst idea anyone has come up with and thats a non smoker. i think yes they should be able to smoke if no customers are around just leave a few windows open and in the morning open all the doors windows spray with airfreshener and how can that harm anyone if there is not actual smoke about when thy open up. i got a warning when i hadnt even got half way through my cig by two council workers and told this was my 1st warning and if i was caught throwing my cig on floor i would get a fine �75. i was standing near the bin and hadnt had more than five puffs. really they ought to go tell people of outside super markets, mc donalds fast food places as at the back of me its like a rubbish dump and we all got a rat infestation and they gave me a warning for something i hadnt done this country has got priorities all wrong soorry about moan Tiara

[CheekyChops]

I don't care, I smoke and so am actually happy about it.

Perhaps the non-smokers should be thankful that they have been allowed a 'lock-in' and put up with it. If they don't like it they can go home at closing time!

[Buenchico]

If an area is defined as 'an enclosed public space', it's illegal for anyone to smoke there, at any time. Even the landlord isn't allowed to smoke in the public areas of his pub, irrespective of whether the pub is open to the public or not.

With regard to the 'lock in' element of the question, CheekyChops is not necessarily correct. Many pubs have 'permitted hours' which are longer than their normal trading hours. There's nothing to stop them continuing to serve customers who're already present, while excluding latecomers, as long as they remain within the permitted hours. Indeed, I know of one pub (the Dove Street Inn in Ipswich) which is actually required, under the terms of its licence, to lock the doors and close the blinds at a certain time (to stop new customers from entering), well before its actual closing time.

Chris

[tranmerekid]

it is illegal .


maybe when your local shuts down through lack of trade.




you may have a rethink about the anti smoking laws.






DTH

[tranmerekid]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25888856/











DTH

[CheekyChops]

Buenchico, our local pubs have a licence until 12:00am but are required to close the doors / curtains after 11:00pm to stop new customers coming in.

However some of these pubs also serve until the early bhours, past 4:00am occasionally which is NOT allowed under the terms of their licence and is is this type of 'lock-in' that I was referring to.

[LewPaper]

If this is all you have to worry about you have my undying admiration. What does the word 'Jobsworth' mean anyway?

[New Judge]

Also, of course, the pub is a place of work and as such smoking is not perrmitted at any time, even if only the landlord works there and he has no customers.

[Buenchico]

That's a good point from New Judge.

When I was studying journalism, I researched the effects of health & safety legislation on various workplaces. I contacted ASH (Action on Smoking & Health) to ask if, in their opinion, any licensee who permitted smoking in his pub was in breach of this legislation because he was putting his staff's (or his own) health at risk.

ASH sent me a very detailed reply, including the opinion of a QC who they'd already referred the same question to. Their opinion (and that of the QC) was that it became illegal for licensees (and, indeed, all employers) to permit smoking on their premises from the date that the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 came into effect. However, they also accepted that it would require a pub (or other) employee to take a test case before the courts in order to establish the true extent of the law. Given that the tobacco industry and breweries would have funded a defence of any such action, they (rightly) assumed that the matter was unlikely to be brought before a court. That's why ASH, together with others, campaigned for specific legislation to clarify the law which should have come into force in the 1970s.

Chris

[Bonehedchico]

ps

i think smokers should be shot!