The Neutral Syndicate for the Self-Employed (NSZ) called the fine “insane” and pointed out that café owners can appeal for quiet but cannot enforce it. The fine, the organisation said, is “completely inappropriate. The smoking ban is already causing the sector a great deal of pain, and now owners have to face nuisance fines”.

Horeca Vlaanderen, which represents the food and drinks sector, said the ban had brought about a “change in culture” which would take some time to become established. They called for municipalities to adapt their local regulations to allow, for example, closed café terraces, which would help to limit noise.

The two organisations expect more complaints, and more fines. “Terraces are a fact of life in summertime,” Horeca Vlaanderen said. “Just wait until winter; then the neighbours will really begin to complain.”

In Koekelare, West Flanders, meanwhile, two cafés were given a warning and threatened with closure for the same complaint.