Funnyman Mel can breathe easy as chiefs stub out cigar fine
COMIC Mel Smith has escaped a fine for smoking a cigar out of an Assembly Rooms window after council chiefs ruled it was a "theatrical gesture".
Smith, who plays Winston Churchill in the Fringe show Allegiance, risked a £50 fine after the incident, but city officials say it was not a "deliberate flouting of the law" and will not take action in the "spirit of the Festival".
The star abandoned plans to breach the smoking ban and light up on stage as part of his performance as the cigar-smoking prime minister after council officials threatened to shut down the Assembly Rooms, where the play is being performed.
But he leaned out of his dressing room window, puffing on a cigar, for a photocall on Monday.
A council spokeswoman said: "Having considered Mel Smith's smoking out of the window, it appears to us to be a theatrical gesture rather than a deliberate flouting of the law so, in the spirit of the Festival, we have decided to take no further action."
