15/02/2007

Council officers to police smoking ban

Thousands of council officers will patrol bars, restaurants and shops to police the upcoming smoking ban, which comes into effect in July.

Ministers have granted councils £29.5m to pay for staff who will be able to give on-the-spot £50 fines to people and take court action against premises.

A government-funded course is expected to train 1,200 council officers in the coming months. The fully-trained officers will be used to brief other staff on how to enforce the law.

In Nottingham, there will be about 30 officers patrolling the city, comprised of new staff and existing environmental health officers.

The council is also investigating the possibility of employing street wardens to make sure the ban is properly enforced.

Steve Dowling, Director of Environment and Public Protection at Nottingham City Council, said: "We have about 100 wardens and they could keep an eye on whether people are smoking in pubs as they go about their other duties."

In Liverpool, there will be a core team of approximately 20 to 25, although 200 staff are expected to patrol the city in the first few days after the ban.

(CD)


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