Smoking on pavements outside pubs, cafes and restaurants has been banned by five councils.

Outdoor smoking at pubs and cafes banned by five councils. Councils from Manchester, Newcastle, Durham, Northumberland and North Tyneside have all implemented the ban with others discussing doing the same. Added to this all licenses granted by Gateshead council say that smoking outside establishments is prohibited. The ban will see business owners asked to make their environments smoke-free and also help employees to stop smoking.

A spokeswoman for Oxfordshire County Council 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 per cent 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.”

The Government are hoping that England will be smoke-free by 2030, meaning that only 5% of the population will still be smoking by then.

However, smoker’s lobbyists have hit back at the Government’s plans with director of Forest (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco), Simon Clark, saying “It’s no business of local councils if adults choose to smoke, and if they smoke outside during working hours that’s a matter for them and their employer not the council.

Nor should it be the role of Councillors to force smokers to quit by extending the indoor smoking ban to any outdoor area where there is no risk to non-smokers. The public will want local authorities to help local businesses bounce back from the impact of the pandemic. They will also be expected to focus on issues like employment and housing.

Reducing smoking rates to meet some idealistic target is not a priority for most people and council policy should reflect that.” Mark Oates, director of campaign group We Vape,said “It now seems fashionable again to attack smokers instead of helping them, which is all these five councils are doing. They don’t care about the individual smoker’s health, they care about looking good. Smokers need to be educated in the alternatives, not treated like exiles.”