London Mayor announces new alfresco dining hotspots

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced new alfresco dining and drinking hotspots that will allow Londoners and visitors to make of the summer months in the capital. 

Lambeth, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Westminster boroughs will see streets transformed into open-air dining areas, thanks to funding from the mayor to boost hospitality in the city. 

Sir Khan's £300,000 Summer Streets Fund will enable areas across London to open up this summer. The move reflects the mayor’s commitment to outdoor dining and longer opening hours, ahead of being granted new licensing powers from the government to help boost the capital’s nightlife. 

The first wave

After a widely popular alfresco programme during the pandemic, pubs, bars and restaurants on St Martin's Lane in the heart of the West End will be able to provide open-air dining and drinking once again. The street will be car-free between the hours of 11am and 11pm, with alfresco licences available for up to 34 businesses. Plans will be brought forward to make this permanent in the coming months. 

For the first time ever, independent bars and restaurants on Rivington Street and Redchurch Street in Shoreditch will be able to offer outdoor dining and drinking until midnight. Both streets will be car-free on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the summer, and businesses will be able to apply for free licences for the first three months. 

In Brixton, 400 sqm of outdoor dining space will provide around 80 additional tables and 400 extra seats for businesses on Atlantic Road and Brixton Station Road. Running on selected weekends, the roads will become car-free zones until 10pm, with daytime activities including food markets, art workshops and live music. 

Francis Road in Leyton will extend its car-free hours, making it a hub for street trading and a cultural meeting point with seating, outdoor games, late events and a weekend market. There will be further outdoor dining in the Leyton Midland Road as part of a summer event. 

"The schemes announced today are just the beginning and we're looking to build on their success across London in the years ahead," says Khan. 

"London’s food, drink and nightlife scenes are world-class and I’m determined to do all I can to help them thrive," he adds. "With new licensing powers granted by the government being developed, I’m looking forward to doing even more, working with boroughs, businesses and the police to drive forward more initiatives like these. We saw what a success it was during the pandemic, and I want to expand alfresco dining further in the years to come, all part of building a better London for everyone."

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