BARNET Council’s health chief has called for an investigation to tackle the “growing problem” of shisha in the borough.

Edgware councillor Helena Hart, Conservative chairman of the health and wellbeing board, says the borough currently has twenty shisha businesses – an increase of more than half compared to January 2014.

In a motion put to tonight’s full council meeting (December 8), she says young people are “more likely” to be drawn into smoking shisha if there are outlets near their homes or schools, and notes the “serious impact” it can have on people’s health.

Cllr Hart adds that the average shisha smoking session lasts about an hour, during which time a smoker can inhale up to 200 times more smoke than from a cigarette.

During environmental health inspections carried out at 13 shisha businesses over the past two months, ten were found “not to be compliant” with existing guidelines.

But previous prosecutions have proved “costly, time-consuming and resulted in insufficient penalties to constitute an effective deterrent”, Cllr Hart says.

While the council “does not wish to impose a total ban” on shisha, the motion calls for an investigation into how people can be educated and protected from its “harmful effects”, and for “tougher enforcement and penalties” for breaching guidelines.

The issue will be discussed in Hendon Town Hall tonight.

A decision on plans for a new shisha café in East Finchley – which have caused a large backlash from neighbours over health fears from “toxic” pipes – was deferred last month, so concerns about smell could be addressed.