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Time running out for tobacco displays

Time is ticking away for the first retailers to be affected by a ban on tobacco displays to ensure their premises are compliant with the law.

From 6 April 2012, large shops – those with a floor area of more than 280 square metres – will no longer be able to display tobacco products to the public except, for example, when staff are serving customers or when they are carrying out stock control or cleaning. The ban will be extended to all other shops from April 2015.

Customers will still be able to buy cigarettes in the usual way but the government is ending tobacco displays with the aim of supporting adults who are trying to stop smoking and protecting young people from becoming smokers. It is estimated that more than 300,000 children under the age of 16 try smoking every year.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) said that retailers should not fear the impact of the new rules, adding: “The evidence from Ireland when the legislation was implemented there was that committed smokers still knew where to buy cigarettes and didn’t need to see the displays to decide what they wanted to buy."

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