Changes to outdoor seating areas for restaurants, pubs and cafes will come into effect as the price of running them has rocketed.

Businesses that want to take space from public areas to install tables and chairs must have a licence from the council called a street pavement cafe licence.

While pavement cafes have been around for some time, they proliferated during the coronavirus pandemic, when there was an emphasis on social distancing and al-fresco dining to help with the recovery.

At that time, pavement cafe licenses were £100 for applications and renewals.

Now the prices of these licenses in Reading have gone up by £200-£300.

The price increases were agreed at a Reading Borough Council policy committee meeting on October 21, with the amount paid varying depending on the amount of tables and chairs provided.

Councillors also agreed to establish a series of rules governing how licenses are processed and how pavement cafes should be managed by businesses.

Previously, the entire process from application to grant of a licence took 14 days. 

From now on, the process will take 28 days, allowing a 14-day consultation to be held, with a 14-day determination period being held after that before any application is granted.

READ MORE: Changes due for street pavement cafes in busiest areas throughout Reading

Rules dictating how pavement cafes should be managed have also been introduced. 

The recently agreed policy for pavement cafes states: "All food, drink, crockery, glasses, packaging and cutlery etc. left on tables must be cleared as soon as possible after customers have left to avoid any litter on the highway.

"All items of furniture associated with any pavement café, including parasols, must be securely fastened to ensure that they are not liable to be moved by external forces, such as the effects of wind or from being lightly knocked.

"All furniture must be of a type which will not cause damage to the highway surface."

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Furthermore, the policy lays out the enforcement powers council licensing officers possess. 

It states that the council has the right to remove chairs and tables from the public highway if a licence has not been granted. 

Additionally, the policy makes clear that granted pavement cafe licenses can be revoked if conditions are breached. 

That can include circumstances where it is no longer suitable for a licence to be held due to public safety concerns, and when a pavement cafe becomes an unacceptable obstruction or creates a public nuisance.

The council's pavement cafe policy 2024-2029 was approved at a licensing applications committee meeting on Thursday, November 14.