Smoke-ban commuter's light relief

A long-running legal campaign by a commuter against a smoking ban on the London to Brighton line descended into farce yesterday, amid claims that the rail company would permit him to smoke cigars. Peter Boddington, of Brighton, and Connex South-Central said they had resolved their dispute after Mr Boddington agreed to abide by the terms of an order drawn up by their lawyers. But later in the day it transpired that they had different views on what the deal meant.

Connex, which obtained an interim High Court injunction in April preventing Mr Boddington from lighting up on its trains, said he had agreed to refrain from all forms of smoking. He, however, pointed out that the order referred only to "smoking or carrying a lighted cigarette" and said he would be entitled to puff on cigars on his daily journey to and from London. Kathy Marks