The polite notices announcing Britain’s first outdoor smoke-free zone may be a little too polite. Few of those scurrying through Millennium Square in Bristol on a bitterly cold Friday lunchtime had even noticed them.
Instead of announcing “This is a no smoking zone” the pastel-coloured notices say “Thank you for helping us keep Bristol smoke free, healthy & clean”.
It was a subtle message lost on the few smokers who braved the bitter winds in the square on the Harbourside, where ships laden with tobacco once docked. It did not help that the signs do not feature the usual diagram of a cigarette with a line through it.
Raul Rosario, who was smoking, said: “I wouldn’t have been smoking if I’d known, but I did