PUBS WARN OF SMOKING BAN VIOLENCE

Beer gardens will be turned into bitter flashpoints, say landlords | Bar staff 'thrust into firing line' as customers clash over new laws

- Jonathan Walker

LABOUR’S tough crackdown on outdoor smoking could trigger violent clashes outside pubs, landlords warned last night.

They fear the authoritarian ban will turn beer gardens and terraces into flashpoints if customers object to those breaking proposed new laws.

Bar staff will also be thrust into the firing line, they say, to quell angry exchanges outside licensed premises.

MPs predict the “crazy” restriction on lighting up could even threaten public safety as crowded areas outside football stadiums and nightclubs become potential tinderboxes.

Tory Mike Wood, former chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer group, said: “It is another source of conflict between customers and staff. It’s that extra flashpoint. The whole thing is badly thought through.”

Tony Sophoclides, of UKHospitality, which represents 100,000 venues nationwide, said: “There needs to be due consideration and scrutiny and consultation about how exactly this is enforced.

“That has to include making sure staff are safe and not put into danger. At a time when we want to attract people into these roles we have to make sure they are not forbidding or ominous for any applicants.”

Labour-controlled Newcastle City Council has already banned smoking in outdoor areas of all new bars, restaurants and pubs, with 100 premises now included.

But former Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden declared: “The idea of telling people they can’t smoke in a beer garden and forcing them out on to the street seems crazy to me.