Balfour Conservative Club first Pembrokeshire premises to be fined for smoking ban breach (From Western Telegraph)

Balfour Conservative Club first Pembrokeshire premises to be fined for smoking ban breach

10:52am Tuesday 17th February 2009 in

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A Conservative Club has been ordered to pay £5,000 after admitting to breaking the smoking ban.

The Balfour Conservative Club in Quay Street, Haverfordwest and its Steward, John Phillips, were each fined £1,000 by the town’s magistrates yesterday Monday after pleading guilty to three offences under the 2006 Health Act.

The prosecution, brought by Pembrokeshire County Council which was awarded £3,000 costs, is the first in Pembrokeshire since the smoking ban was introduced in April 2007.

The prosecution followed an unannounced visit to the club by officers from the council’s public protection division at around 7.15 pm on 12th June last year, following allegations that smoking was being allowed in a room on the club premises.

When the officers entered they found three people smoking and noticed an ash tray containing cigarette butts. A ‘No Smoking’ sign was on display.

The court was told that previously the club had been provided with comprehensive guidancefrom the council relating to the ban.

Afterwards, Jeff Beynon, the council’s food, safety and port health manager, said that it was inexcusable that the club and its steward chose to ignore the requirements of the ban.

He added: “In circumstances such as this the Authority is left with no alternative but to prosecute, to protect the health of non-smokers and of persons employed on the premises. To put the interests of smokers above the health of others is wholly unacceptable.” Mr Beynon said that in line with the national picture, compliance levels with the ban in Pembrokeshire were extremely high with a great deal of public support from both non-smokers and smokers alike.

County Councillor Ken Rowlands, cabinet member for environmental and regulatory services said that he was pleased with the result of the case.

“Smoking is the greatest preventable cause of illness, disability and premature death in Wales with about 6,000 related deaths in the country each year.

“In the past decade awareness has also grown of the dangers to non-smokers from exposure to tobacco smoke, known as passive smoking.

“In 1998 the UK Government appointed a Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health which concluded that exposure to second-hand smoke causes a range of illnesses in adult non-smokers and children.

“Exposure increases the risk of heart disease among non-smokers by 25 per cent, lung cancer by 24 per cent as well as causing respiratory problems in adults and children, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - cot death - in infants, and middle-ear disease in children.

“It is statistics such as these that underline the importance of the ban on smoking in enclosed and substantially enclosed work and public places. The council is committed to ensuring that those concerned in the management of such premises take their responsibilities seriously.”