A driver has been forced to pay £502 for smoking in a taxi.

On the 2 June 2017 Council Officers observed Azkar Hussain Aziz stop on Cheapside, Preston to allow his fare alight from the vehicle and then proceeded to light a cigarette and drove away smoking.

Mr Azakar Hussian Aziz of Woodlands Avenue, Preston failed to attend Court and the case was proven in his absence.

Mr Aziz was fined £200, made to pay the Councils costs of £272 and ordered to pay a vicitm surcharge of £30.

Councillor Peter Moss, Cabinet member for planning and regulation, said, “Taxi drivers have a responsibility to protect the health of their passengers, and the law on not smoking in the workplace applies to their vehicles for this reason. We take non-compliance very seriously and prosecute offenders to safeguard people’s health.”