Should smoking outdoors be banned?

OXFORDSHIRE is considering a ban on outdoor smoking and claims it could save the NHS £120 million in treating preventable diseases. That’s poor recompense for the billions lost to the Treasury in tobacco taxes.

J. M. HURRELL, Ashford, Kent. I DON’T require a local authority’s opinion on whether I choose to smoke, drink alcohol or eat meat. It is a dangerous precedent that councils increasingly seek to impose restrictions on our lifestyles. The fact that an outdoor smoking ban would negatively affect the already beleaguered hospitality industry does not appear to concern the health dictators. I agree with Mail columnist Stephen Glover, who warns of the danger that additional powers local authorities gained during the pandemic are likely to be retained. KEELEY-JASMINE CAVENDISH,

London Se21. I SUPPORT a ban on outdoor smoking. I used to enjoy a meal on the terrace outside a restaurant — but now all the smokers are outside, blowing smoke in my direction. Non-smokers don’t inflict unpleasantness on their neighbours but are still the losers.

Mrs JOAN BAXTER, Camberley, Surrey. AS A litter picker, I daily pick up 400-plus cigarette butts in my high Street. Few restaurants, pubs or takeaways take responsibility for their patrons smoking outside. They don’t supply cigarette receptacles or even brush the front of their premises. Most smokers just don’t care what happens to their butts, but they are a health hazard to us, our pets and wildlife. DAI RICHARDS, Morpeth, Northumberland. HOW can a zealot council ban smoking outdoors? The creeping draconian woke brigade will take over your life if you allow them to, and re-educate your thinking to tally with their absurd ideas.

BRIAN CROSS, Hayling Island, Hants. A BAN on smoking outdoors has long been on my wish list. It is a horrid affliction on your senses to have to trail in the wake of anti-social smokers on our pavements, beaches and parks. Smoke in your own garden if you must, but spare the rest of us from this obnoxious habit.