Carstairs Junction granny fumes at car smoking ban

Breast cancer sufferer Christine Brown (59) disagrees with study findings — by the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians — calling for the ban amid health fears.

And Christine, of Caledonian Crescent, Carstairs Junction, has vowed to set up a petition fighting any possible change to the law.

She said: "I pay my road tax and car insurance, so I should have every right to do whatever I want in my car, including smoking.

"I drove to the hospital the other day and there's no way I could have coped with the stress of that without having a couple of ciggies."

According to the Royal College of Physicians study, two million UK

children live in households where they are exposed to cigarette smoke — and 90 per cent of these are more likely to become smokers themselves.

That is why the Royal College is so keen for a ban on smoking in cars.

But Christine, who hopes thousands of people will sign her petition in Clydesdale shops, is not even sure that the ban would be enforceable.

"A law was brought in prohibiting people from using a handheld mobile phone in their cars," she said. "But I regularly see drivers speaking on phones."

Costing the NHS around 23.3 million every year, some of the child health damages associated with passive smoking include 22,000 new cases of wheeze and asthma and 200 cases of bacterial meningitis.

Professor Terence Stephenson, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), said: "We should be making cars totally smoke-free if there are children travelling in them."

To help Christine deliver petitions to local shops, call 07907 246252.

For more information, see this week's Gazette which is in the shops now, priced just 48p.