Blackpool parks to be declared smoke-free

A number of parks in a town are to be declared “designated smokefree sites”.

Signs will go up at entrances to 13 parks and playing fields in Blackpool, Lancashire, to warn visitors that children need protecting from smoking in open air.

The initiative of NHS Blackpool, which is supported by the borough council, aims to deter smoking in parks but cannot legally enforce a ban without a specific by-law.

The signs read: "Altogether Now. To protect children, this is a designated smokefree site."

Ivan Taylor, Blackpool Council's cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: "The idea is to protect the children who are on the playgrounds. I don't think it's reasonable for children who are playing to be suffering from inhaling smoke and to be influenced by seeing adults also smoking.

"We'll have to wait and see what the reaction is but I think most people would welcome the reason for it. Smoking is a killer and we need to do all we can to discourage it."

PA