Westminster City Council has announced al fresco dining will end on Soho’s roads next month.
Officials said traffic will be reintroduced in the central London area on September 30, meaning the streets can no longer be used to seat customers.
Restaurants and cafes will still be allowed to put seats and tables on pavements.
Businesses had been allowed to expand their service into roads last year following the pandemic as a way to help reduce the spread of coronavirus.
A law loosened restrictions, allowing outdoor trading without planning permission and saw the country build a summer café culture as often seen in Continental Europe.
The end to al fresco dining on public roads in Soho comes after the council also banned gazebos and umbrellas on July 19.
Restaurants had hoped they would still be able to use roads, including Dean St and Old Compton street, into the winter.
John Devitt, owner of Koya restaurant on Frith Street, said businesses were still struggling.
He told City AM: ‘We need the Council to reverse their decision and allow for some flexibility here.’
Westminster City Council is open to extending al fresco dining on roads if residents want it to continue.
A council spokesperson said: ‘We introduced al fresco dining after lockdown to enable residents and visitors back to enjoy safer outdoor dining and in, April and May this year, to allow businesses to reopen when indoor dining wasn’t permitted.
‘This has been a huge success, supporting around 80,000 jobs and creating more than 16,000 additional covers across the city – the highest number in London – saving countless businesses and jobs in Soho and across the West End.
‘We always said interventions such as road closures and barriers were temporary and would end on 30 September.
‘The end of temporary measures does not mean that all al fresco dining cannot continue; businesses can still apply for pavement licenses where there is space on the footway.
‘Additionally, we are consulting residents in six areas across the city, including Covent Garden, on whether some of the temporary measures should be transitioned into new long-term schemes.
‘If residents approve these new schemes, they will be able to begin on 1 October. Furthermore, we are working with Soho residents and businesses to co-design a Vision for Soho that will go out to consultation towards the end of this year.’
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