Campaign group calls beach smoking ban idea unfair

The majority of islanders surveyed supported the introduction of a smoking ban on beaches or in public parks, the Health Improvement Commission said

Calls to ban smoking on Guernsey beaches have been described as "unenforceable" and "unfair on those people that choose to smoke" by a campaign group.

Simon Clark, director of pro-smoking group Forest, told BBC Radio Guernsey "there is not a shred of evidence that smoking in the open air is a threat to the health of non-smokers".

Tobacco use is the UK's single biggest preventable cause of death, killing two-thirds of long-term users and causing 80,000 deaths every year - health authorities also say there is no safe level of exposure to second hand smoke.

Mr Clark's comments come after calls for a ban from The Clean Earth Trust (CET), which said cigarette butts could harm the marine environment.

Mr Clark said there were no public health grounds for such a ban, adding that dropping cigarette butts on a beach "is not a good idea but it's not a good idea to drop any form of litter".

He called for more cigarette disposal bins to be provided rather than introducing a ban on smoking on beaches, and Forest encouraged smokers to carry a "pocket ashtray" so they could take their own litter home.

He said smokers did need to be considerate to people in their immediate vicinity but "the reality is that there is probably going to be nobody anywhere near you".

He said if smokers were on a beach and it was busy then they "need to be considering, perhaps, moving away and smoking in a place where there are fewer people present".

Support a ban

The CET and islanders surveyed by the Health Improvement Commission raised concerns about the impact on children and the marine environment of smoking on beaches.

The commission said 61% of islanders surveyed would support a ban.

Paul Bugden from the charity has previously told the BBC Guernsey should follow the lead of France and some parts of the UK by banning smoking on or near beaches.

The CET said litter pickers found nearly 2,500 cigarette butts, which contain toxins, on the island's beaches last year.

Guernsey has set a short-term goal of reducing smoking rates to less than 10% by 2028, but this would need new tobacco control policies, the Health Improvement Commission said.