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" Vending machines selling tobacco products have been officially banned in England in a move designed to make it harder for children to obtain cigarettes.  It is now illegal to sell tobacco from vending machines and landlords are required to remove any tobacco-related advertising from machines on their premises.  A similar ban is set to be introduced in Northern Ireland in February 2012 and Scotland and Wales have also committed to banning cigarette vending machines.  Health secretary Andrew Lansley said: &amp;#039;Cigarette vending machines are often unsupervised, making it easy for children to purchase cigarettes from them.  &amp;#039;The ban on cigarette sales from vending machines will protect children by making cigarettes less accessible to them - we want to do everything we can to encourage young people not to start smoking in the first place.&amp;#039;  The move has been welcomed by campaign groups, including Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).  Dennis Ager, lead officer for health at the Trading Standards Institute, also praised the measure, describing it as a &amp;#039;necessary and long overdue step&amp;#039;.  He added: &amp;#039;The ease with which children have been able to access cigarettes from these often unsupervised machines has been truly shocking and this ban in proportionate and necessary.&amp;#039; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a21538/cigarette-vending-machines-now-banned-in-england/>