The Use Classes Order (UCO) established in 1987, must be reformed to cater for the rapidly changing use of towns and cities and the unprecedented growth in leisure property, according to a survey by the Leisure Property Forum, Kingston University, law firm Denton Wilde Sapte and property consultants, King Sturge.

Under the current UCO, food and drink outlets are classified as a sub-set of retail which means that while a restaurant can be changed into a shop without planning consent, a shop cannot be changed into restaurant.

Eighty per cent of respondents believed the order to be an out dated and inflexible planning tool, while more than 70 per cent believed it stultified the ability of occupiers to react to change.

Angus McIntosh co-author of the report said: The results of our survey call for reform of the UCO in regards to land use for leisure if the government objectives of planning for sustainable and vital cities are to be met.

Key recommendations include a distinction between town centre planning uses and out-of-centre locations, a clearer distinction between leisure and retail and the classification of theatres in the same use class as cinemas.