No smoke indoors, no drink outdoors.
Police in Aberdeen have been asked to monitor pubs’ outdoor smoking areas to make sure no one is drinking when they should not be.
Drinking in a public place is an offence in Aberdeen under local by-laws and some pubs have special permission for their beer gardens and outdoor areas.
However, since the introduction of the smoking ban, smokers have begun to congregate outside pubs – some of which have no licence for outside drinking.
Local licensees say the problem - if there is one – is minor and insist they are doing their best to combat it.
Lee Brown, manager at Beluga Bar told the Evening Express: “It’s mainly a problem at the weekends. To curb it we have tried to raise awareness with the door staff to be more vigilant.
“The problem is we have doors which open the whole front of the bar so it is more difficult to contain.”
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