Five councils in England ban smoking outside pubs and restaurants

Five councils in the north of England have banned smoking at tables on pavements outside restaurants, bars and pubs.

A sixth council area, located in the south of the country, is also planning to go entirely smoke-free within four years.

The five local authorities have begun including the rules in their licensing agreements for when establishments apply to put tables and chairs on pavements outdoors.

The Covid pandemic has seen a shift in restaurants and pubs offering drinking and dining outdoors, with the Government introducing rules to grant temporary pavement licences to help establishments when indoor hospitality areas were closed.

North Tyneside, Durham, Newcastle, Northumberland and Manchester City councils have all put smoke-free pavement drinking and dining rules into place over the past year, according to their licensing conditions.

Oxfordshire is also considering a smoking ban for outdoor hospitality as part of its plans to become the first smoke-free county by 2025.

‘Creating healthy and family-friendly smoke-free spaces’

Smoke-free status is officially recognised by the Government when 5 per cent or less of an area's population are smokers, with Oxfordshire vying to be the first county in the country to achieve this status by 2025.

An Oxfordshire County Council spokeswoman said: "Oxfordshire has set itself an ambitious aim to be smoke-free by 2025.

"Creating healthy, smoke-free environments - including considering proposals for hospitality outdoor seating to be 100% smoke-free - is just one small part of a wider range of county-wide plans.

"At present there are no timeframes for smoke-free pavement licensing proposals and nothing has yet been agreed.

"Any decision on this would be ultimately the responsibility of our individual district councils in Oxfordshire.

"Our tobacco control strategy further outlines our smoke-free 2025 plans, which includes creating healthy and family-friendly smoke-free spaces, helping people stop smoking in the first place, and supporting those who wish to quit."