Painter fuming over £30 fine for smoking in his van

A painter and decorator is fuming after copping a £30 fine for lighting a cigarette in his own van – because officials deemed it a workplace.

Gordon Williams, 58, popped out to buy his wife some teabags in his unmarked van when he was stopped as part of a roadside check by council officers.

He was hit with a penalty notice under anti-smoking laws that ban lighting up in a workplace.

But Mr Williams, from Llanafan in Wales, plans to appeal the fine.

He told the Times: “The van is only for private use and to get me to and from work.

“It is not my place of work. I decorate houses, not vans.”

His wife paid the fine, worried that it would double if she didn’t.

A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly said smoking is permitted in vehicles used for work if they are for the sole use of the driver and not used as a workplace by anyone else.