HEALTH chiefs have welcomed the total ban on tobacco advertising saying it could save lives in East Lancashire each year.

The ban came into effect at midnight last night with the disappearance of advertising on billboards and in newspapers and magazines. And government research has shown that the ban could cut deaths from smoking related illness.

Dr Gifford Kerr, consultant in public health for Blackburn with Darwen Primary Care Trust, said "I welcome the ban, which could eventually save almost ten lives per year in Blackburn with Darwen alone, as a result of reducing smoking related deaths by an estimated 2.5 per cent. Research has shown that while the main impact of advertising on adults may be to switch brands, the influence on children is more sinister and contributes to recruiting new smokers to the deadly habit."

The ban is a key part of the government's drive to reduce smoking related deaths and illness and is the first stage in the implementation of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002.

Regulations determining the implementation of the sports sponsorship ban, the banning of brand-sharing and point of sale advertising will be announced shortly.

Anti-smoking lobby group ASH has also backed the ban.

Clive Bates, director of ASH, said: "This is a great moment for public health, a credit to the government and a measure we've been campaigning for 30 years.

"It will save tens of thousands of lives as the attractiveness of cigarettes declines and the tobacco industry struggles to recruit new smokers to replace customers that are dying off.

"Without work of the image-makers to mask the reality, smoking will start to feel banal and ultimately ridiculous. The advertising and imagery is central to the product -- why else would someone think that inhaling toxic addictive fumes from burning dried leaves in paper was sporty, witty or sharp?"