Scottish Borders Council discuss banning e-cigarettes

A health charity says there has been a five fold rise in the number of ex-smokers that now use electronic cigarettes in Scotland.

Ash Scotland's recent poll shows that the use of the electronic devices in the country has risen from three per cent to 14 per cent in four years.

E-cigarettes - or vaporizers - produce a vapour rather than smoke and are often used as an alternative to smoking.

Galashiels-based Dave Sidgwick told ITV Border he now uses a vaporizer after giving up smoking.

"I was sick of smoking, I just decided I would stop. I stopped last October, I smoked 50 cigarettes a day, and I went onto the vaporizer and I've never felt like a cigarette since."

The Licensing Board at Scottish Borders Council have deferred a decision to ban the use of e-cigarettes in Licensed premises.

The Board were asked to consider a request by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland to implement a ban.

But the Board say the Institute have not given them enough information on why they want a ban to be introduced.

Scottish Borders Council's Licensing Board will discuss the possibility of banning Electronic Cigarettes from pubs and bars in the Scottish Borders.

E-cigarettes, which produce puffs of vapour and deliver a nicotine hit without tar and toxins, were originally billed as a safe alternative to tobacco.

But there are concerns about their use from public health bodies, who say there is little research on the harm they cause.

The Royal Environment Health Institute of Scotland has asked all 32 Scottish local authorities to consider imposing a ban across all licensed premises.