POLICE VOW TO IGNORE NEW LAW ON SMOKING

From tomorrow it will be illegal to light up in cars with children. But it’s all a farce because . . .

A NEW law against smoking in cars carrying children will not be enforced, police chiefs admitted last night.

From tomorrow officers will have the power to dish out £50 on-the-spot fines.

But police bosses say they will turn a blind eye to those caught flouting the law. Drivers will instead get away with a warning – ‘education not prosecution’. The approach is a blow to ministers who pushed through the legislation on the advice of health experts. At least three million children are thought to be exposed to dangerous fumes in their family car.

The Mail understands that private guidance to chief constables urges them to give motorists at least three months to adjust to the new law. A similar approach was taken with the workplace smoking ban in 2007.

A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: ‘Forces will be following guidance from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health by taking an educational, advisory and non-confrontational approach.’

A Department of Health source said officials expected police not to hunt for offenders. Critics of the legislation said it was unenforceable and

unnecessary. Under the Smoke-Free (Private Vehicles) Regulations 2015, it will become an offence to light up in any enclosed vehicle that is carrying people aged under 18.

The law can be enforced by police, who have the power to stop a vehicle, or some council staff, who do not have this power.

Those caught face a warning, a £50 fixed penalty, reduced to £30 if paid with two weeks, or a fine of up to £200 if convicted in a magistrates court.

In cases where the passenger is the smoker both they and the driver will have committed an offence. In an interesting quirk, the legislation bans lighting up in a caravan or motorhome only if it is moving.

It is also not a crime to smoke in a convertible with the top down or for a 17-year-old to smoke while driving without anyone else in the car aged under 18. Electronic cigarettes are not covered because they do not emit toxic fumes. But motorists who hang their cigarettes out of the window will still be committing an offence.

Officials hope the new law will underline a ‘cultural change’, with smoking in a vehicle with children quickly becoming as socially unacceptable as drink driving.

The Police Federation, which represents the front line, said officers should not be expected to act as health workers.

Jayne Willetts said: ‘Making this an offence that officers are expected to enforce just creates an unnecessary extra layer of bureaucracy. With resources being cut, no force can prioritise their hard-pressed police officers’ time for this. It brings us back to the whole problem of police being “everything for everyone” and, now, health workers.

‘Meanwhile, we are struggling to find resources to stop crimes that have a much more dramatic impact on victims.’

Motoring lawyers said it will be hard to distinguish between cigarettes and electronic versions that emit a smoke-like vapour.

Police encountered similar problems when the mobile phone ban was introduced, as some motorists were mistakenly accused of holding handheld devices.

Simon Clark, of smokers’ group Forest, said the new law was ‘unnecessary and almost certainly unenforceable’.

He added: ‘The authorities, especially the police, must have better things to do.’

Professor Sally Davies, the Government’s chief medical officer, said: ‘We want children to grow up free from harm and we need parents to understand why smoking in vehicles is so dangerous. ‘Eighty per cent of smoke is invisible so even if you think you are being careful you cannot see where the smoke is going.’

Dr Anil Namdeo, of Newcastle University’s Transport Operations Research Group, has carried out experiments on secondhand smoke in vehicles to test levels of dangerous chemicals.

The test found even with the window open, levels were more than 100 times higher than recommended safety guidelines.

Smoking will be banned in prisons despite fears it could spark disturbances, the Government announced last night.

From early next year, eight jails in England and Wales will become smoke-free. The ban will then be rolled out across all 136 prisons.