Owner fined for smoking in closed hotel

BLACKPOOL, England, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The owner of an English hotel has been fined for smoking on the premises at a time when the hotel was closed.

A court in Blackpool also gave Patricia Coupeland, owner of the Cheers Hotel, a 12-month conditional discharge, The Daily Telegraph reported.

A health inspector saw Coupeland smoking during a visit to the hotel. She was cited and ordered to pay a 50-pound ($100) fine -- reducible to 10 pounds if paid promptly.

"I was in the dining room doing my paperwork and having a cigarette," Coupeland said. "It was closed as a hotel at the time and was therefore my private home. There were no guests. I only had a friend stay. The health officer came across as vicious and a person with attitude."

But the court agreed with the health inspector, who said that Coupeland can smoke in her private apartment but not in public areas, even when the hotel is closed.

A self-employed decorator was recently fined for smoking in his own van while driving to work. But the Rolling Stones reportedly ignored smoking regulations during a performance last year in London because none of their fans complained.

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