A LANDLORD couple who took a stand against the smoking ban have today been left rueing the decision - after it cost them £8,000.

A LANDLORD couple who took a stand against the smoking ban have today been left rueing the decision - after it cost them £8,000.

Martin and Karen Turver, 49 and 42, of the Dog and Partridge in East Wretham, flouted the ban for two months after its introduction.

The couple today appeared before Thetford Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to breaches between July and August last year.

District judge Philip Browning told them they had “clearly and deliberately flouted” the ban and ordered the pair to pay more than £8,000 costs and imposed a two-year conditional discharge.

Sally Dale, mitigating, said the couple had suffered a 30 per cent drop in trade since the introduction of the ban, and the business was no longer viable and they were planning to covert it into a domestic property.

Ms Dale added that they taken a “stance” against the ban but there had been no breaches since August 31.

After the case, councillor Ann Steward, of Breckland District Council, which brought the prosecution, said the authority was pleased that the matter was over.