Pete Bevington

17 May, 2006

SHETLAND Islands Council has bought in 6,000 pocket ashtrays known as "butt pouches" to give out to smokers to stop them littering the islands' streets following the nation-wide smoking ban.

The council's environmental health department said the problem of butts piling up outside pubs and clubs was getting so bad that they had to take steps to do something about it.

Environmental health manager Maggie Dunne said she had used £2,000 of Scottish Executive cash aimed at promoting the smoking ban to buy the butt pouches, which are being given away free at council offices, Gilbert Bain Hospital and the local health board, at Brevik House, Lerwick.

Pouches will also be handed out to licensed premises in Lerwick, Brae and Scalloway and bar staff are being encouraged to distribute them among their smoking clients.

Ms Dunne said: "I tested out various pouches on my smoking friends and colleagues and this was the best one. You put the cigarette in the pouch, close it and it stubs it out straight away. They've been fire tested and their padded and metal lined so they don't get hot."

The council is also identifying business premises where cigarette butts are accumulating due to people smoking outside and will be asking them to deal with the litter problem by providing a disposal bin or making sure staff and clients use butt pouches.

The council is warning people that if they are caught dropping a cigarette butt they will be liable to an on-the-spot fixed penalty notice of £50.

Ms Dunne said the smoking ban had been going well in Shetland and no one had been caught smoking indoors. However there had been complaints about people smoking in enclosed bus shelters, including one outside the Lerwick hospital.

Before the national smoking ban the hospital banned smoking on its premises so staff went outside to smoke in the bus shelter provided by management. Now smoking there is banned under the new law, and managers are having to discourage staff from using the shelter.

"If we catch anyone smoking at the hospital we will serve them a £50 penalty notice," Ms Dunne warned, adding that her staff regularly checked the bus shelter for offenders.

The only other problem had been nightclubs where the door policy did not allow clients to leave the premises and come back in. Some, such as Baroc and Posers, were now using side doors to allow people to smoke in an alleyway without leaving the building, she said.