It has been claimed so-called vertical drinking is under threat in the heart of London's West End.
In short: standing up to have a drink, often outside.
The borough of Westminster has more licensed venues than anywhere else in the UK with about 500 pubs, bars and wine bars, and roughly 1,750 cafes and restaurants.
It follows a report on page three of Thursday's Guardian newspaper, headlined "Time at the bar? Council accused of trying to stop pubs being pubs with 'no standing' plan". The headline in its online version of the story has since been tweaked, external.
By 1 October, Westminster City Council (WCC) needs to update its current licensing policy – drawn up in 2021.
It has therefore published draft proposals as part of a consultation which closes on Sunday, external, which the Guardian report was based on.
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In the draft plans, WCC said it wanted to "discourage excessive drunkenness and encourage the provision of more seating in premises that serve alcohol for people to sit and enjoy a drink and order food by table service in place of open bar space that caters for high volume vertical drinking".
One policy is to refuse pub, bar, fast food or music venue licences in an area known as the "West End cumulative impact zone": an area roughly between Oxford Street and Trafalgar Square, taking in Leicester Square and Soho.
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"The introduction of measures to reduce the extent of, or to remove opportunities for, vertical drinking could address the underlying reasons for the policy," the document reads.
The guidance suggests applicants for new licences should aim for "a predominantly seated operation with fixed seating", alongside waiter service replacing vertical drinking and restrictions on customers consuming alcohol while standing.
WCC insists there is no plan to ban pub-goers in Soho from drinking while standing up, branding reporting of anything of that nature "utterly ludicrous", and on Friday afternoon it published a "myth-busting" response to the proposals, external.
Tim Barnes, WCC deputy leader and cabinet member for growth and planning, said: "There is no plan, and never has been, to ban drinking while standing up in a Westminster pub.
"Suggesting otherwise is a wilful misreading of the policy proposals with clauses taken out of context.
