Confusion at bus station over smoking ban (From This Is Wiltshire)

Confusion at bus station over smoking ban

8:18am Sunday 29th July 2007

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MEMBERS of staff at Salisbury central bus station have been accused of both hypocrisy and breaking the law after ordering a passenger to stop smoking on the station, then lighting up themselves.

Andy Wright, of Alderbury, was waiting for a bus at the station last Tuesday morning with a friend, who wished to remain nameless.

When his friend lit up a cigarette, she was promptly told to put it out as her behaviour contravened new anti-smoking legislation.

However, when the pair went to the bus station the very next day, they saw a group of four bus drivers standing in the exact same spot smoking cigarettes.

Describing the incident, Mr Wright said: "My friend thought that because the station is open air, it would be okay to smoke there. But as soon as she lit up, a member of staff rushed over and told her to put her cigarette out as the station is now non-smoking.

"After the member of staff told us this, we did notice there are now signs up on the walls which say it is illegal to smoke anywhere in the station.

"However, when we turned up to get the bus the next day, we saw a group of bus drivers quite happily puffing away on their cigarettes in the exact same spot where my friend was told off.

"It seems the bus drivers think the new laws do not apply to them."

Since July 1, all enclosed workplaces have become smoke-free environments, and included in the description of "enclosed workplaces" are any structures with a ceiling or roof.

This means Salisbury central bus station, with its partial roofing, must now be smoke-free and if anyone is caught smoking there, both they and the Wilts and Dorset bus company could be facing a fine of between £50 and £2,000.

Chris Harris, a spokesman for Wilts and Dorset, said: "The bus station at Salisbury has been designated as a no-smoking area, in line with the new laws, and this will be communicated to all staff and customers alike."

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