Smoke free zone?

Signs that say smoking is not allowed are a fair start in any smoke-free area.

But big bins complete with ashtrays seem to contradict the ban.

And there is often a fog of fag smoke drifting through Lancaster's state-of-the-art bus station.

A meeting of the city council's Cabinet on Tuesday decided that smoking will be banned in all council owned buildings as the country starts moving towards smoke-free status.

But its own bus station - already supposedly smoke free - is a haven for secret smokers.

"As a council we are trying to stop people smoking in the bus station. It is our responsibility and we probably should not have ashtrays in the bus station which is a no smoking zone," says Cllr Janice Hanson.

"It is something that we need to look into - it will be brought up in meetings in the future."

The bus station has long had a problem with people smoking and other anti-social behaviour.

Measures have been taken to combat drug users and alcoholics - but smokers seem to have slipped through the net.

One daily commuter, puffing away while waiting for a bus to Morecambe, told the Citizen: "I know I shouldn't smoke in here because the signs say so.

"But they have the signs up then they have big ash trays next to them. And there is never anyone around to say anything in any case."

A spokesman for the city council says there should be no smoking in the bus station - but members of the public persist in ignoring the ban.

"No smoking notices are put up in the building but people keep removing them," she says.

"The requirement for a part of the bins to have an ashtray was to keep the floor clean and unmarked and to encourage people to put out cigarettes. They are not there to encourage smoking."

The spokesman adds: "Policing the policy has proved difficult as we have no staff on the bus station - but from Monday Stagecoach inspectors will be carrying out extra duties, one of which is to try to enforce the no smoking policy."

The district-wide smoke ban will see people having to stub out their cigarettes at the doors of all council owned buildings.

Lancaster City Council is likely now to join the Morecambe Bay Tobacco Control Alliance and other large parts of the country by banning smoking in public venues.

It will mean that people going to the Platform, Dome, Salt Ayre Leisure Centre, markets and Ashton Hall as well as other LCC-run buildings will have to leave their cigarettes at home.

"This is really welcome," says Cllr Gina Dowding. "We are ahead of the game and ahead of a lot of other councils with this. Many people support smoking bans, even some smokers."