Mother shocked at electric cigarette ban

A WOMAN said her birthday night out was spoilt after she was asked to leave a York bar for using an electronic cigarette.

Cherry Knott, 59, of Kingsway West in Acomb, York, was celebrating her birthday with her daughter, son and his partner in Yates’s in Lower Ousegate, when they were approached by a member of staff who asked them to stop using the e-cigarettes or to leave the venue.

The mock cigarettes emit an odourless water vapour and simulate smoking by producing a mist which is inhaled.

The group, who say they have used the cigarettes indoors in other venues in York without any issue, questioned the member of staff before deciding to leave.

Mrs Knott said they had been in the bar for a while and had even discussed the cigarettes with a barman, before being asked to leave by a member of staff who said they might encourage people to light up genuine cigarettes.

She said: “I never saw anybody light a cigarette. We tried to argue our point and said they were harmless. My son said there should be notices if we were not allowed to smoke them.

“We had just got a round of drinks in when the manager asked us to leave. He said we had to leave if we wanted to smoke them.

“It ruined my birthday a little bit because we were having such a good time.”

Mrs Knott said she wanted pubs and bars to have greater clarity on their rules about the electronic cigarettes, which she said had helped her and her family to reduce or quit smoking.

A manager at Yates’s, who asked not to be named, said that initially two people had been using the electronic cigarettes indoors, but then they were joined by two other people who were also using them, causing concerns other people in the bar might be encouraged to start smoking inside.

She said: “It’s something we have never experienced before.

“If people see them smoking what appear to be cigarettes, bigger groups might smoke themselves.

“They were seated in the food area and we had a few complaints.”

Sales of the electronic cigarettes have soared and are expected to top one million in the UK this year.

But it has been reported that medical experts have called for further research into their side effects, raising questions about what the devices contain and their impact on users.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said it was legal to smoke e-cigarettes indoors if they were only emitting a vapour and they are not ignited, but said it would be at the discretion of the owner of the premises.