Diners itching to light up at the dinner table are in luck, as a ban on smoking in the vicinity of food-serving establishments was lifted on Friday. 

A legal notice in May amended the Smoking Control Act to prohibit the smoking of "any tobacco product in places where food is served or within the parameters of places where food is served."

Smoking was only allowed 10 metres away from places food is being served. 

The ban was lifted with a new legal notice that removed the aforementioned clause in the act. 

Smoking is still prohibited in any enclosed public space, as well as in playgrounds or public gardens where children's play equipment has been placed. 

Tobacco products also cannot be smoked in private vehicles where a minor, that is any person under 18, is also in the car. Smoking while driving is also illegal.

Malta introduced an indoor smoking ban in 2004, making it the only second EU country to do so, after Ireland. 

According to Malta's health profile, published by European Observatory on Health, 17% of all deaths could be attributed to the consumption of tobacco products. 

The profile had found that one in five Maltese adults said they smoked daily. 

 

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