Permission has been granted for a smoking shelter to be erected outside a busy Stoke-on-Trent hospital. 

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust applied for permission in April to build a smoking and vaping shelter outside Harplands Hospital, Hilton Road. 

Objections were received from third parties regarding the application, stating that "providing a facility to enable and support any form of addiction at a hospital is abhorrent and such use should be discouraged". 

Permission was granted last week for the shelter to be built (Broxap).

In response, Stoke-on-Trent City Council said: "The provision of such a facility is not considered to promote use, as it would primarily accommodate those individuals who already partake in smoking and vaping. 

"Also, given the scale and nature of this application, these comments are not particularly relevant and are dismissed."

Permission was granted on 12 June for the shelter to be built.

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