A LICENSEE has been fined for letting customers smoke in her pub.

A complaint was made against Penelope Dainton-Smith last March prompting a visit to Ye Olde Oak Inn in Wigmore, near Ludlow, by Herefordshire Coun-cil. During the visit, officials saw smoking taking place on the premises.

Hereford Magistrates Court was told that when interviewed about the offence, Dainton-Smith, aged 62, said the reason she let people smoke was because she was against the ban, adding it was up to the freedom of the individual.

She admitted a charge of failing to stop a person smoking on a smoke-free premises and was fined £100, plus £250 costs.

Neil Coulson, defending, said a lot of people in Herefordshire were against the restrictions.

He said his client’s views on the ban were tainted by the impact it would have on the business.

Speaking after sentencing, the licensee said life has been hard since the smoking ban was introduced.

“The ban has had a substantial effect on trade and we have been running at a loss since it was brought in,” she said.

“I admit I was a little negligent but I thought the district judge (Deputy District Judge Gwyn Jones) was very fair.”

Dainton-Smith, who does not smoke, says supermarkets are not helping the pub trade by selling cheap booze.

The news comes at the same time as Herefordshire MEP Mike Nattrass is calling for designated smoking rooms to be reintroduced in pubs.

The UKIP MEP said the smoking ban has had a disastrous impact on the nation’s pub industry.

“My view is that smoking in pubs must involve a separate room which is ventilated and where no staff are forced to work in the smoke,“ he said. “It would mean that many customers would return to pubs, which are focal points in local communities.”