The University Library will ban lamb and beef from the menu of its tea room and instead promote vegan options as part of its new sustainable food policy.

The policy involves reducing the availability of meat, fish and dairy. Lamb and beef will be banned altogether while plant-based foods and vegan options will be promoted.

Plant-based meals must make up a larger part of the food offering year on year, according to the rules.

The kilograms of meat and dairy bought by the caterers will be checked to make sure they represent an increasingly small proportion of the total food they buy.

Tinned tuna is also frowned upon. The guidance limits it to certain days of the week and demands that higher prices are charged.

The University argues it has a “responsibility to provide healthy and sustainable food”. It wants to “minimise the impact of its catering operations on the environment”.

It runs campaigns to promote vegan options and aims to “raise awareness of the benefits to the environment and individuals of reducing meat consumption”.

Single use plastic is also banned and the use of local suppliers is encouraged to reduce carbon emissions.

Caterers will be trained about sustainable food and the reasons for the policy.

A library spokesperson said “this has been standard university policy over a number of years now” but declined to say whether tea room customers had been consulted on the rules as part of a feedback survey on the tea room.

Famous for its cheese scones, the tea room has been described as a “beloved space in the Library, University and Cambridge community”.

It will serve sandwiches, pastries and snacks to staff and students when it reopens before the start of next academic year.