For painter and decorator Gordon Williams, his van is simply a means of getting from A to B.

But council officials chose to give the vehicle a more lofty status.

When they spotted him behind the wheel with a cigarette, they handed him an on-the-spot fine of £30 - for smoking in his place of work.

Fined: Gordon Williams, 58, was given a penalty for smoking in his van when council officials declared he was 'at work'

Mr Williams, 58 and self-employed, had finished work for the day and was driving to the shops to buy some teabags when the council official pulled him over.

'I was told that because my van is my place of work I had broken the smoking laws.

'I was dumbfounded - the van is only insured for private use and to get me to and from work.

'It's not my place of work - I decorate houses not vans.'

Mr Williams, who lives with his wife Sue near Aberystwyth in Wales, was driving on the A487 near his home in his unmarked blue Suzuki Carry when he was stopped by council officials.

He was travelling with a 16-year-old family friend who had been helping him at work and was also smoking a cigarette.

'They were pulling in vans and commercial vehicles,' said Mr Williams.

'I'm not sure what sort of offences they were looking for but when they saw me with a fag in my hand, that was it.

'The council official was not a very nice man. There was no warning or reminder of the new laws - I was handed a fixed penalty notice and that was it.'

He believes it could be the first ticket of its kind handed out by Ceredigion Council since the smoking regulations came in last year - the fixed penalty notice was number 0001.

Simon Clark, director of smoking rights group Forest, said: 'This smacks of some jobsworth council official interpreting the law to the most extreme level.

'This surely is not what the change in the law was intended for - it was not meant to harass and persecute people going about their ordinary lives.

'It is ridiculous that someone should be fined for smoking in their own private vehicle away from any workplace.'

Mr Williams is now planning to appeal, even though his wife has already paid the fine.

She explained: 'If it wasn't paid on a certain time it doubled so I went to the council offices and gave them the £30.'

Mr Williams, who has not smoked in his van since the fine, added: 'I respect anyone who chooses not to smoke but I would also ask for the same respect to have the freedom to smoke in my own private vehicle.'

Ceredigion Council yesterday said they could not comment on individual cases but a spokesman said: 'There are very few exemptions to the smoking ban.

'It affects most public premises, including work vehicles.'

A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly explained the rules which led to Mr Williams's fine.

He said: 'The regulations state that a vehicle shall be smoke-free if it is used for work by more than one person - regardless of whether they are in the vehicle at the same time.'