A rather ingenious attempt by a pub landlady in Yorkshire to bypass the smoking ban in her establishment looks set to be foiled this week after it came to the attention of the authorities. Kerry Fenton designated the smoking room in the pub a ‘research centre’, making use of a loophole in the current laws.
She has asked customers using the smoking section of the Cutting Edge pub to fill in a questionnaire on their smoking habits before lighting up. She also asks that they donate a sum to Cancer Research. Ms Fenton has said that since she introduced the new room, customer number have jumped fivefold, though before the pub was struggling to break even.
The loophole in the current law was found after detailed reading of The Smoke Free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007. However, the room is likely to be shut in the coming week, as a representative from Barnsley Council’s Regulatory Services has scheduled a visit to let Ms Fenton know she has “misunderstood” the relevant laws.
Since the smoking ban was introduced in 2007, the number of smokers in Britain has dropped dramatically. The government is now planning on introducing curbs on how shops display cigarettes, demanding that they are now sold from under the counter. This move has faced criticism from small shop-holders, who claim that it will damage their businesses, already suffering in the current economic climate.