More smoke from Wales

Mr Gordon Williams, a 58-year-old painter and decorator from Llanafan, a tiny village near Aberystwyth in mid-Wales, has received an instant fine of £30 for smoking a cigarette in his van. Mr Williams had gone to buy tea in Llanbadarn, on the outskirts of Aberystwyth. After coming out of the shop he lit a cigarette and while he was sitting smoking it in his van a passing policeman saw him and gave him the instant fine for "smoking in his place of work".

"I can understand that a bus driver cannot smoke while driving his bus - his passengers are not allowed to smoke either. I use my little van, insured as a private vehicle, to go back and for to work. Obviously I carry my tools and other equipment in it - just as a solicitor would carry his brief case and documents in his car from home to his office or to court. But it is ridiculous to suggest that my van is 'my place of work'."

"I was just smoking a cigarette and annoying nobody. It is as if Big Brother is watching you all the time."

Mr Williams began a process of appeal against the fine, but his wife paid the £30 (about 35 euros). If he had appealed, and lost, the fine would have been much greater.

At least it was not as bad as the case of the Welsh Assembly Government Heritage Minister, Mr Rhodri Glyn Thomas, who felt that he had no choice but to resign after walking into a pub in Cardiff with a cigar in his hand.

Gwyn Griffiths