Smoke-rebel club owner summonsed

Smoke-ban rebel Dave West has been served with a court summons by Westminster City Council.

The owner of the HeyJo club and designated premises supervisor (DPS) Mark Fraher have both been charged with failing to display no-smoking signs and failing to advise customers to stop smoking. They are due at magistrates court on 11 December.

HeyJo hit the headlines when it recruited the services of Cherie Blair to fight the smoking ban in the European Court of Human Rights.

Undercover environmental health officers visited the club and restaurant before the summons was served.

"We have made no secret of the fact that we are allowing smoking, so why do they need to send in undercover officers at the taxpayers' expense?"

said club executive Harry Barnett. "This law is supposed to be about the dangers to staff in smoking environments, yet Westminster council is sending their troops into danger zones without masks."

Barnett claimed undercover officers stayed for a meal in the club's restaurant.

"The undercover inspectors had a three-course meal complete with bottles of wine and drinks - all on taxpayers' money - as well as overtime payments, no doubt."

A council spokesman said: "We did send undercover environmental health officers in and they did have a meal. If they did not have food in a restaurant they would have looked very suspicious."

The spokesman could not confirm the number of courses or the cost of the meal.

Barnett also believes it is unfair of Westminster to serve Fraher with a summons as he does not decide club policy.