Smoking exclusion zones on the cards, says lawyer

The government may have to introduce smoking "exclusion zones" around public buildings before long, a solicitor has warned.

Licensing and planning expert Lionel Fynn predicts the move may be the only answer to the problems created by the smoking ban.

Fynn, from Horsey, Lightly, Fynn said the slogan 'England becomes smoke free' is misleading.

Smoke is being driven out of public buildings and public places and out into the street where people will be affected hugely​Lionel Fynn, from Horsey, Lightly, Fynn.

"Actually, smoke is being driven out of public buildings and public places and out into the street where people will be affected hugely,"​ he said. "The problem is being moved, not removed.​

"Many people who have been able to make a conscious choice to avoid smoke in pubs, clubs and other places may now come face to face with it out in the open because they will have to run the gauntlet of groups of smokers congregating outside buildings and on the pavement."

He said local councils would have to "get a grip" of potential enforcement issues while the new legislation comes in.

"People think that July 1 is the end of the matter and everything will be sorted out. I don't think it will. There will be a number of entirely new problems to be addressed. "The real fun will start on July 1 when we see what smokers want to do and where they want to do it."​

Fynn said noise, litter and smoke blowing back inside buildings were likely to be an issue especially in residential areas, when smokers gather in groups outside premises in the evening.

He said: "I can see in the long run the only answer may be to have fifty metre exclusion zones enforceable by law to move smokers away from premises. ​

"There are by-laws prohibiting the drinking of alcohol in certain places and smoking could well be treated in the same way."