A local health authority officer responsible for enforcing Italy's smoking ban was fined on Friday after police caught him in his office with a lit cigarette in his hand.
Police were responding to a tip-off that the man was smoking at the Mestre health authority near Venice, despite a nationwide ban on lighting up in the workplace.
The local health authority said it would replace the official, who was responsible for checking that the 2005 law banning smoking in all enclosed public spaces is respected in the local area.
