Can we call time on selfish smokers?

Due to this Covid, none of us has been able to go out and meet up with friends in the fresh air, more so when one does not have a garden, therefore I am very pleased to be able to sit outside and have a coffee with friends.

However, the Coffee Republic has a non-smoking area which clearly states that on the tables, which are under the canopy away from the wind or rain.

I try to sit in that area, to avoid the smokers.

I and plenty of other non smokers of Eastbourne completely object to having to tolerate smokers regardless of what they are smoking, as it is not only bad for the smoker’s health but also others like myself who are passive smokers due to selfish behaviour of other people.

It is also creating a lot of litter on the beach from people leaving cigarette ends.

This has occurred on most occasions I have been out and I have asked the smokers mostly older women, who are clearly old enough to know better, why are they smoking in a non-smoking area.

I have been receiving a lot of verbal abuse and another friend has received abuse from smokers too.

Is there any way Eastbourne Borough Council can ban smoking whether in public or otherwise, as it is not only bad for one’s health it is also a health and safety issue as its due to smokers that so many people’s accommodation is going up in smoke?

I lived in a flat below a smoker and was in hospital every weekend due to the inhalation of smoke which carries through bricks and floorboards of houses and flats.

A lady refused to buy a bungalow a while back as she saw her neighbour was a smoker.

Eastbourne has a lot of older people who are frailer and may have other disabilities so why should their health be put at risk due to selfish smokers?

It is bad enough to use public transport and having to sit near a smoker as they do give off a strong aroma, the same applies when one is queuing at the till.