Booker Group, the UK’s largest food wholesaler, said tobacco sales fell 7.7 per cent in the three months to 17 June, a decline it attributed to imposition of the tobacco products display ban in small stores, Reuters said.

The wholesaler serves 1.3 million customers, the news agency reported. Large retail outlets have been prohibited from displaying tobacco products since 2012. The ban was extended UK-wide to small shops in May.