Users face £1,000 fine as council bans laughing gas

A council in London has become the first in the country to ban the use and supply of laughing gas, with users facing a £1,000 fine.

From today, the legal high - also known as 'hippy crack' - is banned in Lambeth thanks to a dedicated Public Spaces Protection Order.

The council has said the order will help stop anti-social behaviour caused by those who have inhaled nitrous oxide, as well as preventing the small metal canisters containing the gas littering the streets.

It comes as the government is expected to introduce new laws cracking down on legal highs across the board, threatening anyone caught selling such substances with up to seven years in prison.

At least 17 deaths in the UK were attributed to laughing gas between 2006 and 2012 - and a teenager believed to have inhaled nitrous oxide at a party died in London last month.

Ally Calvert, aged 18, was taken to hospital after collapsing in the street in Bexley, south-east London, in July. He had been drinking alcohol as well as using the gas.

His death is being treated as unexplained until the outcome of a post mortem examination.

Lambeth Council's neighbourhoods chief, Jane Edbrooke, said the authority had been inundated with complaints from residents about laughing gas in the borough since last summer.

There were 57 reports to police relating to legal highs being used in the area over the past 12 months, including robbery, theft and sexual assault.

The council was able to introduce its own rule banning laughing gas thanks to a law introduced last year designed to give local authorities new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.