Smoking fines in Canary Wharf?

dacouch

pippitypip wrote: »

Clever ! But still think they would have been rightly fined as illegal to smoke inside now..

This is outside and blooming infuriating!!

pippitypip

Smoking rooms in Hotels are exempt from the law

Norma_Desmond

dacouch wrote: »

Smoking rooms in Hotels are exempt from the law

Yes, but try and find one!

Dave101t

private land: house rules.

dreamypuma

Aren't the fines for smoking in a place of work, of which the grounds of Canary wharf still are? Not unlike smoking in a company car.

Enfieldian

blued wrote: »

I'm not a smoker but if I was I wouldnt be handing money over to anyone without ID.

Some friends got fined by Premier Inn because they could 'smell smoke' in the bathroom. They had to pay £100 with their card. I didn't think it was the business itself that you had to pay the fine to?!

That is their own "charge" that they impose for "returning the room to it's prior condition" (according to their in-house blurb)

maninthestreet

They are not 'fines' - only a court of law can fine you. These are 'requests to pay'. If the person making the request was acting on behalf of the business that owned the land, you have no obligaiton to give them your name and address, so how are they going to enforce payment??

mrcol1000

pippitypip wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right forum, but hey ho..

I heard a few people got on the spot fined yesterday (by plain clothes officers on behalf of the Canary Wharf Estate, not usual security) for not smoking in the designated areas in Canary Wharf. I don't know how much etc but I don't understand how that can be enforceable, considering it's not against the law to smoke outside.

:eek:

Any thoughts, legal or otherwise?

Thanks,
pippitypip

As its private property they can do as they please. If workers on the site are unhappy with the situation it may be worth them making a formal complaint to the estates company or asking for clarification as obviously the estate company relies on rent from its tenants whose employees it is fining. It may well be that the whole of Canary Wharf is a "workplace" therefore it would be illegal to smoke anywhere on the site. Also you can not smoke in any area that is outside but has at least three walls round it as that is an enclosed space.
The plain clothes people may actually be environmental health officers as its amazing how fining a few people can stop something happening.
If its a business fining people then its not enforceable but they can pass your details to the local environmental health department who can issue you with a proper enforceable fine.
I really think you need to get in touch with the estates management company or ask your management to make representation to gets some clarification.
Or you could just smoke where your suppose to......

mrcol1000

blued wrote: »

I'm not a smoker but if I was I wouldnt be handing money over to anyone without ID.

Some friends got fined by Premier Inn because they could 'smell smoke' in the bathroom. They had to pay £100 with their card. I didn't think it was the business itself that you had to pay the fine to?!

Are you sure it was a fine and not a charge to have to have the room have extra cleaning to get rid of the smoke smell for the next guest?

maninthestreet

mrcol1000 wrote: »

As its private property they can do as they please. If workers on the site are unhappy with the situation it may be worth them making a formal complaint to the estates company or asking for clarification as obviously the estate company relies on rent from its tenants whose employees it is fining. It may well be that the whole of Canary Wharf is a "workplace" therefore it would be illegal to smoke anywhere on the site. Also you can not smoke in any area that is outside but has at least three walls round it as that is an enclosed space.
The plain clothes people may actually be environmental health officers as its amazing how fining a few people can stop something happening.
If its a business fining people then its not enforceable but they can pass your details to the local environmental health department who can issue you with a proper enforceable fine.
I really think you need to get in touch with the estates management company or ask your management to make representation to gets some clarification.
Or you could just smoke where your suppose to......

It's not true to say that smoking is illegal in any workplace - it has to be an enclosed workspace. Environmental health officers have no powers to fine you for breaching arbitrary rules imposed by a landowner on private land.