Crackdown on noisy and foul-mouthed smokers

Ah well,at least when winter comes,the smokers will probably be at home drinking their cheap supermarket booze and the pubs may well be closed by spring!

Crackdown on noisy and foul-mouthed smokers
James Wilmore

Pubs in tussle with authorities over smoke ban issues
Licensees are facing increasing pressure from the authorities to control smokers outside their pubs following issues with noise and swearing.

With the ban nearly two months old pubs continue to encounter difficulties with councils and police.

At the Barrels in Luton, Bedfordshire, licensee John Walsh is facing a battle for permission to have smokers in his beer garden after 10pm.

He applied last month to vary his licence to allow smokers in the garden, but the application was rejected by Luton Borough Council.

The council said it had concerns over "the potential nuisance, in particular noise in a residential area". Punch, the pub's owner, said it would appeal the decision.


Walsh said: "People walk off somewhere else if they can't smoke outside. If the appeal gets declined, we probably won¹t be here for much longer."

Meanwhile in South Wales, licensees could face a crackdown on smokers who swear outside their pub.

A report by the Safer North Port Talbot Business Crime Reduction Partnership said: "One consequence of the ban is people congregate outside pubs and use bad language.

"The offending premises should be reported to the anti-social behaviour team."

However, Huw Jones, Neath Port Talbot Council's environmental health manager, said he was unaware of the issue.
The publican