Smoking ban heeded in London's pubs

It's costing us £150 a day, says cafe

None of the 13 people caught smoking and no premises have received anything more than a verbal warning from officials. A fewcomplaints were made to local authorities about smoking in shisha bars and pubs but no breaches were found to have taken place. Some office buildings have also been visited by enforcement officers after complaints were received about workers smoking in doorways and under scaffolding.

Officials from Islington council made the most visits by any borough - around 1,200 - and found just three breaches, meaning 99.8 per cent of venues were complying with the law.

One breach involved a landlord who mistakenly thought people could still light up in a partially enclosed area.

John Gilbert, Islington's executive member for health, said: "It's a promising start and seems to support the work we've done in the past 12 months getting people ready for the new law.

"It's too early to say for sure if the ban has already had the effect of reducing the number of smokers in Islingtonwhich, from a public health perspective, would be very welcome.

"The borough suffers from a higherthan-average sickness and mortality rate, partly due to the number of smokers we have. We'll continue monitoring the ban and ask premises managers and owners to display a 'No smoking' sign if they are not doing so.

"Because there are particular concerns about pavement noise, litter and obstruction, our street teams will take action to prevent these, too."

The only councils not to carry out any specific smoking law checks were Westminster, which has more licensed premises per square mile than any other London local authority, and Wandsworth. Both said environmental health officers had carried out checks as part of "routine" visits to pubs and clubs.

Audrey Lewis, Westminster's cabinet member for community protection and licensing, said the council had received 18 complaints about smoking in public venues since the ban came into force.

But she added: "No premises has received more than one complaint and we have written to each venue reminding the owners about the legislation and their responsibilities.

"The council has also offered to meet with the owners to discuss any issues or queries."

Nearly all councils reported up to a dozen venues not displaying the correct signs, but in these cases the managers or owners were given advice rather than a fine. In other parts of the country the law has been more strongly enforced. On Wednesday a landlord in Lancashire will be the first to appear in court for allegedly flouting the ban. Hamish Howitt is accused of allowing smokers to light up in his Happy Scots Bar in Blackpool.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "We welcome the positive feedback we are already receiving about the new smoke-free law.

"Although it is still early days, we are very pleased with how favourably it has been received by the public.

"We have not had official data from councils but know that, not only in London, but across England levels of compliance are high and the need for councils to take enforcement action has been minimal."