THE government has not ruled out licensing Shisha cafes but believe they can boost the high street and night-time economy, Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry has revealed.

The Rossendale and Darwen MP was answering a House of Commons debate urging new legislation regulating their operation.

After Mr Berry’s speech, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s environment boss Cllr Jim Smith repeated his call for a new licensing regime for shisha cafes.

He said: “We have had problems with under-age people using them as a back door to smoking, illegal indoor smoking and pop up Shisha bars in Blackburn.

"They may have a role in reviving high streets and the night-time economy but they need to be properly regulated.”

Since 2014, Blackburn with Darwen Council has been calling for powers to license shisha cafes, ban under 18s from entering them, require proper identification for operators, confiscate equipment from unlicensed premises, restrict proxy sales of tobacco to under 18s, and give councils and the police the opportunity to vet licence holders.

Mr Berry told MPs: “I am not necessarily always in favour of introducing new licences or imposing new requirements on business.

“I was talking to a reporter on my local paper, the Lancashire Telegraph, which covers Blackburn where there are some shisha bars. Most are well run and managed. Many are smaller, and often, family businesses. The prevalence of shisha bars is something new for Britain and our society.

“It is exciting there are new ways for people to relax that do not necessarily involve alcohol. When such changes happen in Blackburn and elsewhere, we must look at the law and see whether it covers the current situation.

"A licensing regime will not be a silver bullet.

“We have been considering whether a local or national response is ​best, and if at the end of that evidence trail a national response is appropriate, my mind is not closed to that.

“The prevalence and growth of shisha bars is the sort of thing we try to encourage for our future high streets, as long as they are legal, well run and do not impinge unnecessarily on local residents. The future of the high street must be about a mix of leisure and retail.

“It if high streets are not just to survive but to thrive, they must incorporate the night-time economy.

“We must get the regulation right and be satisfied that existing laws are enforced well, and if we decide that new regulation is required, we should consider that."