York taxi drivers flout smoking ban (From York Press)

York taxi drivers flout smoking ban

8:59am Thursday 27th November 2008

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PRIVATE hire vehicle drivers have continued to flout the smoking ban by lighting up in the cars they use for work, City of York Council has revealed.

A report by council officers says that since July 1 this year the authority has issued four £50 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to as many private hire drivers for smoking in their vehicles.

During the period July 1 last year – when the legislation outlawing lighting up in public places was introduced – to June 30, the council handed out seven £50 fines to private hire drivers for smoking tobacco inside the vehicles they used for work.

Barry Hamer, chairman of York Private Hire Association, which represents private hire vehicle drivers, today said he was disappointed that drivers continued to flout the law.

“This is the law,” he said. “It’s not asking people – it’s the law that they can’t do it.

“It isn’t a matter of where you work – they have to realise the vehicle is a working office.

“I just don’t understand why they want to carry on ignoring it, knowing that the trade is hard, I can’t understand why they want to pay a fine when they work so hard for the money. It’s hard work out here now – it’s harder to work than when I first started. Why do they want to do that?”

He said drivers who continued to flout the law could only expect the penalties they were given.

The Press revealed in May how, since the smoking ban kicked in, the council had issued five FPNs of £50 to drivers of hackney carriages for smoking in their vehicles, which the law classes as places of work.

The council said it fully investigated any allegations of breaching the ban. It said if members of the public wished to report any breaches of the smoke-free legislation, they could phone the authority on 01904 551525.

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