Ban on smoking in cars with children confirmed

The government has confirmed that new laws to make smoking in cars carrying children illegal have been approved by parliament.

Set to come into force on October 1st 2015, the regulation will become part of existing smokefree laws and will make it an offence to smoke – or to fail to prevent smoking – in a private vehicle with someone under the age of 18 present.

Public Health England will be launching a campaign soon to raise awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke to children's health, with another campaign to follow later in the year to draw attention to the legal change.

According to government estimates, around three million children are currently having their health placed at risk by being in cars where someone is smoking.

Public health minister Jane Ellison said: "We know that many of them feel embarrassed or frightened to ask adults to stop smoking, which is why the regulations are an important step in protecting children from the harms of secondhand smoke."

Official data released towards the end of last year indicated that the number of smokers in Britain has more than halved in the past four decades. The government is keen to reduce this figure further.