Cigarette vending machines to be outlawed

Cigarette vending machines could be banned from pubs in a wave of new measures aimed at stopping people smoking.

Details of the government's The Future of Tobacco Control were announced at the weekend. The document also outlines plans to remove branding and logos from tobacco packaging, to ban the display of tobacco products in shops and to have a minimum packet size of 20 - designed to price youngsters out of the habit.

Nick Bish, chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, said he feared a ban on vending machines could give customers a reason to leave pubs.

"I think operators are very concerned. What they are doing to tobacco is not central to their business but it is central to customer services.

"We could see customers leaving to buy a packet of cigarettes and deciding when they are there to buy a bottle of wine or beers instead of going back to the pub,

"What we don't want to do is give the customers an excuse to leave the premises and never come back."

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said the main aim of the measures is to stop youngsters picking up the habit.

"Protecting children from smoking is a government priority and taking away temptation is one way to do this," she said.

"If banning brightly coloured packets, removing cigarettes from display and removing the cheap option of a pack of 10 helps save lives, then that is what we should do, but we want to hear everyone's views first."

The document is now out for consultation.