Pubs, cafes and restaurants could be allowed to keep outdoor additional seating changes seen in the pandemic all year round.

A Government consultation has been launched to make outdoor hospitality changes seen in the last year permanent.

In Watford and across England, many hospitality sectors made use of additional seating and marquees on their grounds to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

But now there are plans to make some outdoor dining aspects a permanent feature, along with street markets allowed to operate all year around.

The hospitality sector welcomed the plans, but urged ministers to go further to promote and retain outdoor seating in the streets by restricting traffic in town and city centres.

But an announcement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government did not include the al fresco dining on streets, with councils starting to wrap up the relaxations.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “The proposal to make outdoor measures permanent is a welcome boost for the hospitality sector, its customers and local communities.

“It has provided a vital lifeline to venues all over the country during an extraordinarily difficult period and allowing operators to provide extra outside seating has been a key driver of survival and recovery since reopening.”

But she added that businesses “face huge hurdles going into the autumn and winter”.

“The move by some councils to restrict outdoor seating and return traffic to these areas is a significant blow to our city centres and threatens a huge number of businesses and jobs.

“It is in the interest of the country to have a thriving, dynamic and properly-supported hospitality sector and retaining these outdoor measures would help secure the recovery of a large and vital part of the UK economy.”

The plans include supporting communities to hold outdoor markets by giving powers to local councils to grant them for an unlimited number of days.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “The simple reforms we made during the pandemic to help hospitality businesses, markets and historic visitor attractions make use of outdoor spaces more easily, made a massive impact.

“As part of our vision to transform high streets into thriving places to work, visit and live, we intend to make as many of these measures permanent fixtures of British life as possible.”