MPs agree to ban on cig vending machines

A ban on cigarette vending machines now looks certain to happen after MPs agreed they should be outlawed.

An amendment to the Health Bill by Labour MP Ian McCartney was passed by the Commons last night.

The House of Lords will still have to give the green light to an outright ban, but the government has indicated it would not oppose the measures in the Lords.

McCartney, a former Cabinet minister, said the ban on the machines was "going to change history".

He argued that tobacco was still "the only product in Britain that can be sold legally, which routinely kills and injures its customers".

Vending machines were an "outrageous loophole in our country's safeguards" to prevent thousands of children suffering illness and premature death, he said.

The MP's amendment to the Bill was passed without a vote.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), welcomed the plan.

"Stopping tobacco sales from vending machines has made a strong Bill even stronger," she said.

"We wouldn't tolerate other age-restricted products such as alcohol or knives being sold in this way. This prohibition means that a lethal and addictive product will no longer be easily accessible to children."

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: "We are delighted that MPs have voted to protect young people from tobacco marketing.

"Putting tobacco out of sight in shops and removing cigarette vending machines will help reduce the number of young people taking up a lethal addiction: Tobacco kills half of all long term users."

MPs also voted to ban the display of cigarettes in shops, despite strong opposition from the Tories, who say shops could suffer further during the recession.