Wear jumpers and turn off patio heaters says eco group

Green campaigners are trying to stop the sale of patio heaters, saying they are bad for the environment.

The Energy Saving Trust advised consumers to wear extra jumpers instead of huddling by the gas heaters.

This follows research which says domestic patio heater ownership in Britain will double to 2.3 million.

Today bar and restaurant owners said they would lose business if heaters were banned.

The average patio heater emits about 50kg (110lb) of carbon dioxide per year, the energy trust said. This figure is even greater for heaters used by pubs, clubs, restaurants and other commercial premises.

Philip Sellwood, EST chief executive, said: "We are calling for responsible retailers to reconsider the sale of patio heaters in light of the substantial amount of carbon emissions they produce. Why don't people just wear a jumper?"

Pubs and hotels are among the main investors in the heaters, with around a third of English pub-goers saying they looked for a pub with a patio heater.

Many pubs have heavily invested in the heaters as a result of the smoking ban which came into force on 1 July.

John O'Hora, owner of the Castlebar in West Ealing, said: "They are very popular, especially in the winter and now with the smoking ban. If we got rid of them people might go somewhere else or stay at home, but we are aware that electric heaters would be better for the environment."

A spokesman from Gigulum in Clapham said getting rid of the heaters would be bad for business. He said: "We want to make things more comfortable for our customers. We only switch them on as a last resort. "

Last month London Mayor Ken Livingstone also called for a halt to the spread of "wasteful" patio heaters.

Simon Clark, from smokers' group Forest, said any notion of banning patio heaters was "barking mad".

But Calor, which sells bottled gas, said the impact on the environment had been exaggerated. The company estimates that an ordinary patio heater produces 35kg of CO2 a year.