A restaurant in one of China worst smog-hit areas has been caught charging customers for clean air.

Diners in Zhangjiagang city, Jiangsu Province, discovered a one yuan (10p) per customer charge on their on the bottom of their bill – for the purification of air.

According to the Xinhua news agency, the owners purchased an air filtration system and charged customers for its use without warning them.



Cities in the region have been hit by thick smog in recent months, with visibility reduced to just 100m in some areas.

But, having spotted the charge, angry customers complained, forcing the local government to intervene and ban the practice.

However, some people are more open to the idea, reports the BBC.

Some Chinese users on Sina Weibo microblogging site have declared they would happily pay for cleaner air, given the smog problems.

But one added: “Paying is not the problem. The problem is being informed in advance and obtaining consent.”



Discussions over China’s pollution and smog played a major part at the recent UN-sponsored climate summit in Paris.

The country’s president Xi Jinping recently pledged to pursue domestic policies to cut coal use.

(Flickr/green_intruder)