Pubs blame smoke ban for fights
Licensees in South Devon have blamed the smoking ban for an increase in rowdy behaviour and noise.
Several licensees in the town of Chudleigh have said there has been an increase in fighting and scuffles and that they have had to call police more often since the ban begun.
"There have been more fights and problems since the ban than in the last eight years," Kelly Townsend of the Old Coaching House told the Herald Express.
"In the last six months we have had to call the police three or four times and we have had to break up a lot of fights. It happens at least once a week and all the trouble starts out the back in the smoking area.
He added: "Because all smokers now have to share the same area to smoke in, we are seeing higher levels of aggression from groups of people who would not normally have anything to do with each other, but now have to sit together for a smoke."
Another pub in the town, the White Hart, is appealing against a noise abatement order.
Police said they were treating the problem as a priority and are in discussions with pubs as to how to deal with the increased problems.
To Comment: Login or Register