North London council's plan to ban smoking in pub beer gardens blocked

The Government have blocked a council's plan which would have seen smoking banned in gardens outside pubs.
PA Archive/PA Images
Francesca Gillett14 April 2017

A plan to ban smoking in London beer gardens has been halted by the Government amid fears it will cause pubs to close down.

The current ban on smoking inside restaurants and pubs was set to be extended to outside seating areas under an idea first put forward by Haringey Council in north London.

Health experts had previously backed the ban and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also reportedly supported the proposals.

But ministers have now stopped the plans in its tracks and deemed it a bid to “ban adults enjoying their local pub garden”, the Telegraph reported.

Local government minister Marcus Jones fears the smoking ban plan on beer gardens will force pubs to close.
PA Archive/PA Images

Marcus Jones MP, a minister for local government, said: "Now Labour’s municipal killjoys have been caught with a smoking gun, trying to ban adults enjoying their local pub garden.

"If implemented, these ill-founded proposals would lead to massive pub closures.

"Conservatives in Government will be vetoing these Labour Party plans. Ahead of May’s local elections, local voters have a right to know the bad and mad ideas that are being peddled by Labour councillors."

In the past the leading medical body the Royal Society of Public Health has called to extend the ban to pub gardens and outside bars and schools by establishing “smoking exclusion zones”.

They believe more than half of adults would be more likely to use these outdoor spaces if the ban was extended and a third of smokers might opt for e-cigarettes instead.

According to the Telegraph, a Labour spokesman said: "This is not Labour Party policy. It's not something we are considering, nor is it something we will be considering."

A Mayor of London spokesman told the newspaper: "There is currently no signed and agreed deal on health devolution, and any decision on extending smoke-free areas would be for individual local authorities to take.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in