Newcastle City Council has backed the government’s controversial plans to further clamp down on outdoor smoking. 

The local authority has said it will welcome further measures to stamp out public smoking, citing its previous success as a ‘smoke free’ city and the pressure smoking places on the NHS.

However, the plans have been met with severe backlash from the hospitality industry with various organisations and traders claiming the plans would stall business in tough economic times. 

Health chiefs remain adamant that the health benefits of the proposed restrictions would outweigh the harm, with eight million deaths linked to smoking over the last 50 years.

The proposed bans would apply to outdoor restaurants, open-air smoking areas, the pavements outside either, and areas outside universities, hospitals, playgrounds, and sports grounds.

It’s understood that private homes and large parks will be exempt.  

A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: “Smoking is a killer and too many people in Newcastle die from smoking-related illnesses every year.

"The negative impact of tobacco has been recognised as the single biggest preventable cause of death in England and it can cause harm to almost every part of the human body. 

“We have made progress in Newcastle but the rate of smoking is still much higher in some groups including those from disadvantaged communities and people with mental health conditions. As a council we are very supportive of the government’s smoke free agenda. 

“All new licenses for pavement cafes and seating areas outside bars, pubs and restaurants are required to be no smoking areas and around 100 premises of this type are now smoke free in the city.

"These changes have been welcomed by people in our city and we have not received any complaints about a negative impact from business owners. 

“When planning these changes we made sure we considered the potential wider impacts of littering and noise from displaced smokers and implemented regulations to help resolve these issues.  We continue to actively advocate for tobacco control and believe that creating smoke free environments is major step forward to improving public health.”

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The newly proposed restrictions would, if passed, only apply to England.

It remains unclear if the rest of the UK would follow suit. According to the health organisation, Action on Smoking and Health, there are currently around 6.4m adult cigarette smokers in the UK. 

Government stats from April this year also state that smoking claims around 80,000 a year.