New rulings on smoking in cars and e-cigarette sales announced

The government has announced new actions it will be taking to combat smoking through rulings on smoke-free driving and e-cigarette sales.

The Department of Health has published its response to a recent consultation on proposals to make private vehicles smoke-free when carrying children – a move that was supported by the majority of respondents.

As such, the government will introduce regulations to allow the new rules to come into force in October 2015, subject to parliamentary approval. This would 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 minister Jane Ellison said: "Secondhand smoke is a real threat to children's health and we want them to grow up free from the risks of smoking."

Meanwhile, a new consultation is being launched this week that proposes stopping the sale of nicotine inhalation products, including e-cigarettes, to under-18s. This would also make it an offence for an adult to buy e-cigarettes for a child.

These changes would bring e-cigarettes in line with other age-restricted products, such as tobacco and alcohol, and are supported by most manufacturers and retailers.