A TAXI driver has voiced fears that he and his colleagues might become targets of abuse when the smoking ban comes into force in ten days' time.

From July 1 it will be illegal for drivers and passengers in all public and private hire vehicles to light up inside the vehicle.

If caught, passengers will face a fine of up to £50, while taxi drivers will have to fork out up to £2,500 for failing to enforce the ban.

York cabbie Jim Kerr said he was worried that passengers might turn aggressive if they are told by taxi drivers to put out their cigarettes.

Mr Kerr, of Holgate, who is vice-chairman of the York Private Hire Association, said: "There is always a minority who don't care if it's the law or not and will smoke anyway.

"But if anybody catches them, it's the taxi drivers who pay the price because we can be fined anything up to £2,500.

"It's not a question of doing somebody a favour by letting them smoke, because we really can't afford to pay a fine like this if they're caught."

Mr Kerr said he was also concerned that passengers might become aggressive if taxi drivers told them not to smoke.

He said: "If they've been stopped from smoking all night in the pub or club where they've been, then they'll be fed up by the end of the night. People don't think when they're drunk and you don't know what they might do."

Mr Kerr, 60, who is a night driver with Streamline Taxis, based in Cumberland Street, said he wanted to spread the message that the smoking ban extended to all taxis and private hire vehicles.

He said: "People know they're not going to be able to smoke in pubs and clubs, but I think not everybody realises that they can't smoke in taxis either."

On July 1, it will also be illegal for taxi drivers to smoke in their vehicles when off-duty.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said the council's smokefree officers would be happy to provide advice to any drivers who are concerned about the ban and how it will affect them.

"If they’ve been stopped from smoking all night in a pub or club where they’ve been, then they’ll be fed up by the end of the night"
- Cabbie Jim Kerr

They can be contacted on 01904 551523.

Information about the forthcoming ban can also be found online at www.smokefreeengland.co.uk.

It's not too late to pack it in

THERE are only ten days to go until England becomes officially "smoke-free" - but some local smokers seem to be leaving it to the last minute to quit.

According to the latest figures, the county's primary care trust has helped 3,658 people in North Yorkshire stub out their cigarettes for at least a month over the last year.

But although it is now less than a fortnight until smokers will face heavy new restrictions on lighting up - the county's stop smoking service has not yet been flooded with individuals wanting to give up.

Instead, staff from North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) have been working closely with local businesses to help their employees kick the habit.

Margaret Hewitson, head of the North Yorkshire Stop Smoking Service, said: "As the new smoke-free legislation will have the most pronounced effect on workplaces, a priority for us at the moment is to support employees through workplace-based stop smoking schemes.

"Over the past six months we have run 13 workplace stop smoking support courses, compared with five the previous year. Seventy percent of people who attend one of our courses successfully quit smoking at four weeks.

"While we have not yet seen a dramatic increase in the number of individuals accessing stop smoking service support over recent months, we would expect to see larger numbers once the legislation comes into force in a fortnight.

Between April and December last year, 711 people in York and Selby managed to kick the habit for a month - the target time set by the Department of Health. The North Yorkshire Stop Smoking Service is available on 0845 877 0025.

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