Woman banned from smoking in her garden

VAXJO, Sweden, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A Swedish woman has been banned from smoking in her garden in a trial headed by the Environmental Court in Vaxjo.

The 49-year-old single mother from Akarp, Sweden, said she is enraged by the decision but admitted that she will obey the ruling to avoid having to pay a fine, The Local reported Thursday.

"I actually do go and sit outside the area marked with an X. But I don't do it because I think it's right -- I'm just worried I'll be forced to pay and that makes me furious," she said.

The ban came after the woman’s neighbor, a lawyer with an aversion to smoke, contacted the Environmental Court over the issue after attempting to sue the woman for smoking near him.

The lawyer also told the court that his sensitivity to cigarette smoke forced him to wear a breathing mask every time he left his house.

"He walks around with the mask on regardless of whether I'm smoking or not. It used to annoy me but now I don't care any more," the woman told Sydsvenskan.

But, the court took the lawyer’s side and most of the woman's garden is now off limits for smoking.