Britain’s growing café culture and taste for alfresco drinking and dining may be under threat from MEPs who want to ban the patio heater.

A vote in Brussels today is expected to call on the European Commission to abolish the heaters to help to tackle climate change. Such a move could cost the pub and catering trade dear.

Pubs spent about £85 million on patio heaters after the smoking ban was introduced last year. Besides forcing smokers into the cold there is concern that a ban on patio heaters could bring a significant cash loss to pubs, cafés and restaurants.

The hospitality industry has estimated that if only 10 per cent of Britain’s pubs offered outdoor facilities a ban could cost £250 million a year, or as much as £45,000 a year for a single business.

Experts claim that patio heaters are being singled out unfairly and that their impact on global warming is minimal. Eric Johnson, national expert reviewer for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said that televisions emitted more carbon dioxide. Using government figures, he said that patio heaters accounted for 22,200 tonnes of CO2 , 0.002 per cent of total emissions in Britain.

Televisions produce 4.6 million tonnes of CO2 a year and Dr Johnson claims that it would take more than five patio heaters to produce as much CO2 as one television on standby mode over a year. He said: “The overall impact of outdoor heaters . . . is minimal, and once you look at the domestic models used in homes, the impact is almost nonexistent.”

Patio heaters can be fuelled by electricity, natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas. His views were part of research commissioned by Calor, the largest supplier of LPG.

Fiona Hall, Liberal Democrat MEP for the North East, is trying to persuade the European Parliament to accept a European ban on patio heaters and all standby controls on electrical appliances. A Commission spokeswoman said yesterday that if MEPs voted for a ban it would be scrutinised.

B&Q, Wyedale and Notcutts, the garden centre chains, have already announced that they will stop selling patio heaters once stocks run out because of their damage to the environment. A spokeswoman for the Horticultural Trades Association said that garden centres were looking at promoting greener alternatives.

The Energy Savings Trust also suports a ban on patio heaters. Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the trust, said it was not good enough to wait for the rest of Europe.

“We need UK action now. That is why we are calling on responsible retailers to follow Wyevale and B&Q’s lead and stop selling patio heaters, and for restaurant and pub chains to reconsider the widespread use of these products. Consumers also have a role to play. We know that a third of pubgoers are choosing pubs where there is a patio heater, but why not just wrap up warm instead if you need to go outside?”

It is concerned by figures compiled by Green Barometer, an index that tracks public opinion on the environment, which suggest that the number of patio heaters in the country will double to at least 2.3 million within two years. Some 10 per cent of households, about 2.5 million, said that they already had or would buy a patio heater in the near future.

The trust said that 2.3 million heaters would emit the same CO2 in a year as driving from Land’s End to John o’ Groats 200,000 times.

There was little enthusiasm for a ban at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

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