An Inverness city centre pub has made a quick U-turn on plans to ban electronic cigarettes.
A sign appeared in the popular Church Street bar Lauders last week, banning smokers from using the battery-powered vapour cigarettes inside.
But yesterday, the sign was taken down after the Press and Journal contacted the owners and they realised there had been a “mix-up”.
Ben Levick, operations director at TCG, which owns Lauders, said: “It is a bit embarrassing if I’m honest. We had a regional meeting last week and the general manager at Lauders seems to have had a misunderstanding about company policy and outlawed them.
“The sign has been taken down after the mix-up came to light.
“We haven’t gone down the same route as Wetherspoons and banned them entirely.
“That was the message and Lauders seem to have got the wrong end of the stick.
“We run a wide range of businesses including pubs, nightclubs and cafes and in some of them it is not appropriate to have e-cigarettes.
“That’s probably where the mix-up came from.”
Unlike conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes are not banned in public buildings such as restaurants and bars as they only give off water vapour.
However, some pub chains such as Wetherspoons, who run The King’s Highway in Inverness, have banned e-cigarettes from their premises.
The pub chain made the move after catching patrons trying to pass real cigarettes off as the electronic equivalent.
Airlines and train companies have also banned the use of the cigarettes, while supermarket chain Sainsburys has also banned their use.
Yesterday campaign group Action on Smoking and Health said more than half of current or ex-smokers have now tried electronic cigarettes.