Ban on disposable vapes welcomed by NHS body

The ban on the sale of single-use disposable vapes has been welcomed by a health body.

The ban is aimed at protecting children's health and the environment and it means shops and supermarkets will no longer be able to stock them.

Claire Parker, director of strategy and development at NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said: "It's a really good opportunity to raise the discussion about vaping and smoking and quitting."

She said she would urge the government to go further though, and "think about more restrictions around things like flavours".

Disposable vapes have been cited as a key driver in the rise in youth vaping and Ms Parker said her colleagues in Shropshire "regularly see an increase in children and young people vaping".

"Many children try it once or twice and don't stick with it, but many children do," she said.

The flavours of vapes were a concern to her, because she said they were "often marketed to target younger people".

The ban on disposable vapes will not affect rechargeable or refillable devices, so she added she did not expect it to affect people moving to vapes as a means of quitting cigarettes.

Ms Parker said the health service would continue trying to move tobacco smokers on to vapes, because they do not produce carbon monoxide or tar.

But she said it was still unclear what the full effects of vaping were, so encouraged people not to start vaping if they did not already smoke.

Retailers in England breaching the ban face a £200 fine for the first offence with potentially unlimited fines or jail for those who repeatedly re-offend.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have introduced their own bans, timed to coincide with England's ban.

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.