Imperial Tobacco said yesterday that it was seeking a judicial review of the government’s plan to ban cigarette vending machines, reports The Times.

The judicial review has been sought by Sinclair Collis, the wholly-owned cigarette vending machine subsidiary of Imperial, which operates about 20,000 such machines across the UK.
The ban on cigarette vending machines is part of the UK government's Health Act 2009 and is set to be implemented in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in October 2011. Similar measures have also been supported by the Scottish Parliament.The ban was proposed by Ian McCartney, a former Labour minister, who claims that the machines, which account for about 1 per cent of all UK cigarette sales, give young children access to cigarettes.
Gareth Davis, chief executive at Imperial Tobacco, Britain’s leading cigarette manufacturer, said: “Legal action is always a last resort, but the government’s decision to ban cigarette vending machines is so disproportionate and unnecessary that it must be challenged. We do not want children to smoke and supported the Government’s proposal to stop underage access through the introduction of electronic ID cards, token mechanisms and remote control technology.
“These are effective solutions, which have been implemented in a number of other countries and it is a matter of great regret that the UK Government ultimately chose to disregard all of these options in favour of a ban that will result in significant job losses in the vending industry.”
Simon Evans, Imperial’s spokesman, said that the cigarette vending machine market in Britain was already under severe pressure from the ban, introduced two years ago, on smoking in public places. (pi)