Plain packets ‘will mean fewer smokers’

Plain cigarette packaging is effective and should lead to 300,000 fewer smokers in the first year after being introduced in the UK, a study suggests.

Research in Australia, which imposed the policy in 2012, found that restricting the colour, size and font on packages was linked to a drop in the number of smokers over 12 months. Plain packaging formally comes into effect in Britain on May 20 but has in reality been in place for months.

Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, of Oxford University, said: “Our evidence suggests that standardised packaging can change attitudes and beliefs.”