A council's environmental policies have gone up in smoke after a Government planning inspector ruled patio heaters were an efficient use of energy.

The landmark decision follows council attempts to ban the outdoor warmers in a bid to combat climate change.

The move, which councillors fear could set a dangerous precedent, will be seen as a major blow to ecocampaigners who consider the patio heater a well-established foe.

A planning application from the Heart And Hand pub in North Road, Brighton, for three heat lamps is believed to have been the first in the country to be rejected on environmental grounds.

Brighton and Hove City Council argued the heaters did not conform with its policy for energy-efficient buildings and looked unsightly in a conservation area.

Planning inspector Simon Emerson overturned the decision, saying the diktat could threaten pubs’ livelihoods. He said there was “no more efficient way of keeping people warm outside” and added: “I do give some weight to the need for a business such as this to attract and retain customers.

“On balance I consider that the proposal does not represent an inappropriately wasteful or inefficient use of energy.”

The decision is likely to have farreaching implications for councils considering similar moves. But publicans already battling the recession and knock-on effects of the smoking ban are celebrating.

Heart And Hand landlady Lara Read said her mother Jocille, who owns the pub, had to fight hard to get the ban overturned and save the business.

Ms Read said: “We would have lost a lot of customers and it could have put us out of business. People want to sit outside because they want to smoke and we need to allow people to live and enjoy themselves.

“We have probably wasted a lot more energy trying to get this sorted out than using the heaters.”

The British Beer And Pub Association, which represents many pubs, said: “It does seem frankly obscene to ban outside heaters when councils have plasma TVs which produce more carbon.”

A council spokesman said it was the first time it had rejected an application for heaters on environmental grounds but would not comment on attempts to block outdoor heaters in the future.

Ian Davey, who represents North Laine on Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “I fear this rebuttal of what was a common sense decision by our planning officers will set a dangerous precedent that others will follow.”