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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

Par Gwyn Griffiths pour Gwyn Griffiths le 29/07/08 7:28

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

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Gwyn Griffiths is an ABP correspondant in Wales. A Welsh delegate of the International Committee for the Defense of the Breton Language (ICDBL) and former journalist with BBC Cymru, he is a contributor to several Welsh newspapers and magazines – one of them is Cambria. He is the author of numerous books and articles in Welsh and English – many of them about Brittany. He is co-editor, with Jacqueline Gibson, of \"The Turn of the Ermine. An Anthology of Breton Literature\". (London, Francis Boutle Publishers, 506 p., 2006). He is a great connoisseur and friend of Brittany which he has visited on over 50 occasions.

[ See all articles from Gwyn Griffiths]

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