THE enforcement of new anti-smoking laws is set to place an extra "burden" on already overworked police officers across the district, West Yorkshire Police Federation has warned.

From October 1, it will become illegal to smoke in a car or other vehicle when someone under the age of 18 is present, with police tasked with handing out warnings or fixed penalty notices of £50.

But Nick Smart, chairman of the federation, said the West Yorkshire force was already suffering from "dwindling" resources, with 190 more jobs set to be lost to balance the books by 2019/20.

"Cuts have had a huge impact on our roads policing capability, and we have lost a number of officers in that area," he said.

"We now have to enforce this new law with dwindling numbers and capacity.

"There are already other road traffic priorities such as dangerous driving, driving without insurance, and the use of mobile phones.

"This is yet another ask of us when we are struggling for staff, and another burden placed on us when resources are diminishing.

"Whether it gets the attention it deserves, we will have to see in 12 months time.

"We don't stop as many people for mobile phone use, not because people aren't doing it, but because we don't have the proactive capability that we used to.

"We don't have the resources to police this new law how we would want."

The threat of further cuts to the force due to reduced budgets was announced by Mark Burns-Williamson in a report to the county's Police and Crime Panel last week, but a spokesman declined to comment on how this might affect enforcement of the new smoking laws.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "Police will enforce this new legislation, as appropriate, when it comes into force."

Under the new legislation, it will also become illegal for retailers to sell e-cigarettes or e-liquids to under 18s, or for adults to buy, or attempt to buy, tobacco or e-cigarettes for those under that age.

David Lodge, head of West Yorkshire Trading Standards, said the authority had already worked to identify how many retailers were currently selling e-cigarettes to under 18s.

"We found that some retailers assumed it was already the law, some took a moral view that selling to under-18s was wrong, but others had no qualms about doing so," he said.

"We will deal with it as we would with the sale of any other underage products.

"As ever, we will react to complaints from members of the public, but we are confident we have the resources to enforce the law."

Bradford Council's public health department said it welcomed all aspects of the new legislation in a bid to create a "smoke-free generation" by 2025.

Joanne Nykol, tobacco lead for the Council, said: "Second-hand smoke in cars is a real threat to children's health and can increase the risk of cot death, glue ear, asthma, and other respiratory diseases due to the enclosed space of a vehicle.

"Bradford Council welcomes anything that protects our children and young people from exposure to second-hand smoke and reduces the number of people smoking in the district as we work towards creating a smoke-free generation in the future."