"One of the stranger ones was that bars were not allowed to have any seats; drinkers had to stand in the hope that they wouldn't linger too long."
A similarly strange situation prevailed with betting shops when they were first legalised in 1960 (or maybe 61). They were to have no seats, the door, if left open, had to have a curtain thingy to prevent people looking in. The idea was that punters should enter the shop, place their bet then leave. However, all shops had the "ExTel" betting and commentary service, all had stools and all provided newspapers on frames on the wall. People used to spend all day in them.