A CAFE owner has been prosecuted for allowing smoking on his premises.

Mohammed Khan, of Northstead in Ravensthorpe, has been convicted at Dewsbury Magistrates’ Court for permitting smoking in a smoke-free place contrary to the Health Act 2006.

The prosecution by Dewsbury Magistrates is thought to be only the second of its type in Kirklees.

The court heard that environmental health officers and the police visited the premises called Masti in Bradford Road, Batley, on July 9 last year.

Masti – formerly The Park Inn – was found to be operating as a shisha café serving soft drinks, snacks and also shisha and the officers found evidence that shisha smoking was taking place illegally within the premises.

Several shisha pipes were present along with shisha tobacco, coals and other shisha equipment.

Khan pleaded not guilty, saying that smoking was taking place outside in a smoking shelter.

But he was found guilty by the magistrates and fined £185 and ordered to pay £300 costs plus a victim surcharge.

Clr David Sheard, Kirklees Cabinet member for Environment, said: “Shisha smoking is not exempt from the smoke-free law and is treated in exactly the same way as other forms of smoking.

“Contrary to popular belief, shisha tobacco contains tobacco, tar and nicotine and because of the prolonged length of a shisha session can deliver many times the level of toxic substances found in a normal cigarette.”