Cigarette sales fell by 6.9 per cent as the smoking ban was introduced in England and Wales.

 

In the four weeks to July 28 smokers bought just over three billion cigarettes in Britain, down from the same period last year, according to the consumer research group AC Nielsen.

 

Anti-smoking campaigners have welcomed the steep decline, which is in line with similar falls that followed the introduction of smoking bans in Ireland in 2004 and Scotland last year.

 

Amanda Sandford of the health campaign group ASH, said: “It’s very encouraging. We hope this is indicative of people taking steps to give up smoking altogether.”

 

A spokesman for Imperial Tobacco, the biggest player in the British cigarette market, said: “What tends to happen following the introduction of smoking bans is an initial sharp drop in volumes, which then ameliorates over time.”

 

Before the ban, Imperial Tobacco, which controls more than 46 per cent of total volumes, said that it expected duty paid market volumes to fall by 3 per cent over 12 months.

 

Whilst Borders, the book chain, said that sales of anti-smoking books by Allen Carr and the hypnotist Paul McKenna have risen by almost 260 per cent on average across their British stores.

 

Source: The Times Online, 21 August

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