Back bar cigarette vending machine is legal

By Tony Halstead

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Cigarette vending machine Vending machine

Back bar cigarette vending machine is legal
A vending machine company has been forced to produce a new back bar cigarette dispenser in order to bypass newly-introduced laws banning machine sales in public places.

The Blackpool-based company has designed a “min vender” which can be sited in bars allowing licensees and barstaff full control over every sale.

Company boss Rod Bullough says without the new machine the 67-year-old firm, R Duckworth Ltd, could have folded with the loss of 20 jobs.

“We were forced to go back to square one and virtually re-invent the company because the alternative would have been closure.

“Its cost us a lot of money but slowly we are re-building the company and providing licensees with a new vending service which adheres to the new law,” Bullough said.

The new machine is about half the size of an old-style vending unit and comes minus branded cigarette logos and carries official smoking health warnings.

“The mini vender means licensees can continue selling cigarettes free from the hassle of buying stock and cash handling every sale.

“Just as important is the fact that licensees and their staff can check for underage buyers which was not always possible when machines were sited in different parts of a pub premises,” he added.

The company is working on a prototype for a second mini vending machine, The Duckworth’s Tobacco Bar, which is due to be launched shortly.

The ban on machine vending in public areas came into effect at the beginning of 1 October.

Morning Advertiser legal editor Peter Coulson said the new backbar vender adhered to the new legislation as no pictures of branded tobacco products appeared and the siting of the machine guaranteed no member of the public could use it.

He added that the purpose of the regulation was to stop children having free unsupervised access to cigarettes.

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