A self-employed painter and decorator has been given an on-the-spot fine for smoking in his own van because it is classified as a workplace.

Gordon Williams from Aberystwyth in Wales went to buy some teabags for his wife when he was stopped as part of a roadside check by council officials. Moments earlier he had lit a cigarette and was issued with penalty notice under anti-smoking legislation that bans it in the workplace.

Mr Williams aims to appeal. He claims he uses the unmarked van to transport his paint and ladders to and from jobs and that it is not a place of work. A careful read of the smoke-free legislation for Wales suggests that the council officials may have been overzealous.

A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly, which drafted the legislation, said: "Smoking is permitted in vehicles used for work purposes that are for the sole use of the driver and not used as a workplace by anyone else."

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