Graphic images placed on cigarette packets

The government has unveiled new regulations which will see graphic images placed on tobacco products as part of the latest drive to put people off smoking.

The 15 images - chosen after a public consultation and vote - include pictures of diseased lungs alongside cancer warnings, and a foetus with warnings on the dangers babies face when exposed to smoke.

All cigarette and tobacco packs will include the images by the end of 2009, with manufacturers forced to use them by late next year.

Health secretary Alan Johnson said the effectiveness of the written warnings, introduced in 2003, was "diminishing" and that the new images would have more of an impact.

"Picture warnings are the next vital step in reducing the number of people who smoke," he said on Tuesday. 

"We are committed to continuing to drive down smoking rates in the UK as smoking remains the number one cause of ill health and early death.

"We have already made a lot of progress with stark written warnings on cigarette packs."

He added that the move - combined with new laws making smoking illegal in public places and plans to raise the legal age of buying tobacco products to 18 - "will potentially save thousands of lives".

Speaking on GMTV the health secretary pointed to success in using images to help people give up in other countries, and said the government had an "obligation" to raise awareness of its dangers.

Cancer Research UK welcomed the move, with senior tobacco control manager Elspeth Lee saying: "We hope this is a step towards the plain, generic packing of all tobacco products.

"International evidence shows that graphic picture warnings lead to greater awareness of the risks associated with smoking and help encourage people to cut down or quit altogether."

However, smokers' lobby group Forest claimed they were being "victimised".