A pavement licence allows businesses selling food and drink to put removable furniture such as counters, tables and chairs on the highway adjacent to its premises.

This is a fast track procedure, brought in due to COVID-19 and will end on 30 September 2024.

The fast track procedure for the grant of pavement licences bypasses existing regulatory regimes; in particular, a pavement licence:

• authorises the restriction, by anything done by the licence-holder pursuant to the licence, of public access to the part of the relevant highway to which it relates without the need for a Highways act permit
• constitutes deemed planning permission for anything done by the licence-holder pursuant to the licence, thus removing any requirement for a separate planning application
• removes any requirement for a street trading licence in respect of anything done by the licence-holder pursuant to the licence