§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to highlight the danger of smoking on petrol station forecourts; and whether they will consider banning the sale of tobacco products from such locations. [HL4342]
§ Lord WhittyThe Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 requires that anyone who keeps more than a minimal amount of petrol must obtain a licence from his local petroleum licensing authority. The requirement applies to all petrol filling stations. The Local Authority Co-ordinating Body on Food and Trading Standards (LACOTS) has issued a standard set of licence conditions. One of the standard conditions is that the licensee shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, take all steps necessary to prevent smoking taking place in any hazardous area where petroleum spirit is kept, handled or exposed. A further condition requires petrol filling station licensees to display notices stating "No Smoking" and "Petroleum Spirit—Highly Flammable".
Petrol filling stations are subject to periodic inspection by petroleum licensing authority inspectors. Amongst other things, the inspector would check that the required notices were displayed and that staff were aware of the prohibition of smoking on members of the public dispensing petrol and the action they should take if they see people smoking on the site.
The Government have no plans to prohibit the sale of tobacco products at petrol filling stations.