£200 fines for smokers who defy new law

Anyone found breaking the new regulations, which come into force on 1 July, faces a £50 fixed penalty, discounted to £30 if paid within 15 days.

But that penalty could rise to a £200 if smokers are taken to court for the offence.

The penalties are contained in detailed regulations put before Parliament which set out how the ban will work. The final draft will need the approval of MPs before the law comes into force.

Most public places and workplaces will be covered by the legislation including offices, pubs, restaurants, membership clubs, public transport and work vehicles that are used by more than one person.

Signs must be displayed to ensure customers do not smoke. Managers of smoke-free premises who are prosecuted for failing to prevent someone smoking could be fined £2,500 if convicted.

Patients being visited by health workers at home will be exempt.

The theatre stage will also be exempt, after the rules were relaxed for "artistic" expression. Unlike Scotland, where the ban extends to the stage, performers will be allowed to light up if it adds to their role - although the audience will not.

The document says: "Where the artistic integrity of a performance makes it appropriate for a person who is taking part in that performance to smoke, the regulations allow for parts of premises in which a person performs to be not smokefreein relation to that person only during the time of the performance."

The relaxation of the rules will come as a welcome relief to the theatre industry.

Last summer Mel Smith threatened to defy a ban on smoking while appearing as Winston Churchill in a play during the Edinburgh Festival.

Smith was told he could not light a cigar as part of the fringe show. Instead, he was forced to toy with it and a lighter.

But while some actors may be allowed to evade the ban, musicians are likely to get short shrift.

Rolling Stone Keith Richards escaped prosecution last year after lighting up at a concert in Glasgow. He was let off only because the show was open-air.

But rockers such as Babyshambles' Pete Doherty - and girlfriend Kate Moss - who like to smoke onstage-will still be banned because it does not contribute to the artistic integrity of their performance.

The regulations state that care homes, hospices and prisons will be allowed to have smoking rooms under certain circumstances.

Mental health institutions with inpatients will also be allowed to have smoking rooms until 1 July 2008. After this date they must enforce the smoking ban.

The documents set out what will be considered as an enclosed public space, and the size of signs warning people it is a smoke-free area.

Fixed penalty notices of £200 could be issued for not displaying the correct signs in smoke-free premises, again discounted to £150 if paid in 15 days.

But if the owner or licence-holder is taken to court and then convicted the maximum fine could be £1,000.