Shisha bar fined for breaching smoking rules (From Harrow Times)

Kingsbury shisha bar fined for breaching smoking rules

12:10pm Saturday 29th September 2012 in News By David Hardiman, Reporter

A shisha bar owner who let customers smoke under a canvas awning at the front of his shop has been fined for breaching smoking regulations.

Mohammed Faiz Azim, 26, who runs the VIP Shisha Lounge in Kingsbury Road, had built a canvas structure on the front of his store with sheets on the side, enclosing customers who smoked pipes inside.

Smoking regulations mean a public area for smoking cannot be “substantially enclosed”, and Azim was warned repeatedly by officers from Brent Council that the structure was not legal.

At Willesden Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to failing to prevent smoking in a smoke-free area and was ordered to pay £515 in fines and costs.

The conviction comes on the eve of the council’s Stoptober campaign to encourage people to give up smoking for a month.

Bill Bilon, head of consumer and business protection said: “Our aim is to protect local people's health by ensuring they are not exposed to smoke in areas which should be smoke-free.

“Owners of shisha shops, pubs and clubs that allow smoking on their premises should ensure that they are familiar with the legislation and make the necessary arrangements to ensure that they are complying with the law.”