Outdoor Smoking Is Now Banned In Five UK Counties
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Five councils in England have banned smoking outside hospitality venues in a push to make the country smoke-free by 2025.
Newcastle City council, Manchester City council, Durham County council, Northumberland county council and North Tyneside Council have all banned smoking on pavements with tables, according to the Guardian.
Several other councils are said to be considering a move to entirely smoke-free venues, as health officials are piling on the pressure to crack down on smoking.
Meanwhile, Gateshead council in Tyne and Wear has ruled that all new licenses to allow venues to have tables outside must be smoke-free.
The news comes after it emerged that Oxfordshire was planning on becoming the first smoke-free county, with employers expected to asked to enforce smoke-free spaces outside shops, offices and factories to help smokers quit entirely.
Tougher measures will also be implemented to stop the sale of cigarettes to under 18s, and more work will be done to discourage smoking in homes, cars, play parks and at the school gates.
A statement from Oxfordshire council reads: "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.
"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."
Oxfordshire's public health director, Ansaf Azhar, said of the changes: "It is not about telling people not to smoke.
"It is about moving and creating an environment in which not smoking is encouraged and they are empowered to do so.
"But that is not going to happen overnight."
Dr Adam Briggs, the public health official leading the strategy, added: "We have got a condition that is entirely a commercially driven cause of death and disease.
"It is impossible to be on the wrong side of history with tobacco consumption."