SHISHA cafe bosses have been ordered to pay a £4,000 fine after repeatedly allowing people to smoke on their premises.

Arabian Mist, in The Bunker, Gilnow Lane, was brought before Bolton Magistrates’ Court after officers from Bolton Council caught people smoking at the businesses five times.

Nobody from the cafe attended the hearing.

Alan Mather, chairman of the bench, found the business guilty in the owners’ absence.

Andrew Morris, prosecuting on behalf of Bolton Council, said the cafe is known as being a shisha cafe where pipes are smoked.

He told the court: “The cafe is obviously set up for the purpose of smoking. The whole thing is for smoking to take place.”

Mr Morris said the business fell within the provisions of being a “smoke-free premises”.

Council officers made several visits and found people smoking shisha, breaking the law.

In September last year six lit shisha pipes were found when an officer visited the cafe.

Two people were smoking the pipes when visits were made in November. People were also found to be smoking twice in March this year.

The prosecution followed a crackdown by Bolton Council to ensure bars were complying with anti-smoking laws.

Shisha cafes are not exempt from smoking legislation, which was introduced in 2007 and banned people from smoking indoors.

Smoking is permitted in an outside area or shelter — but only if 50 per cent of it is open to the air.

Arabian Mist was named by Bolton Council last year as a business which had been “non-compliant” with the law.

The cafe faced seven charges, including failing to prevent smoking in a smoke-free premises and failing to comply with a community order by not attending unpaid work placements on July 28 and August 11.

Chairman of the bench Mr Mather ordered the owners of Arabian Mist to pay a £4,000 fine, £1,000 court costs and a £400 victim surcharge.

Riyaz Patel, aged 23, a manager at the business, is accused of failing to prevent smoking on November 11.

The court heard yesterday that Patel will not face prosecution if he accepts the charge and will be face a caution from Bolton Council.

The owners of Arabian Mist could not be reached for comment.