Cigarettes are to be forced beneath shop counters with supermarkets and cornershops banned from displaying tobacco products, The Times has learnt .

The latest assault on smokers will also see the disappearance of vending machines from pubs and restaurants in an attempt to further limit children’s access to tobacco.

Both measures are to be included in a consultation to be launched later this spring. Legislation, if needed, could be introduced this autumn.

Dawn Primarolo, the Minister for Public Health, last night signalled she was ready to take on retailers to implement changes that she claimed would save hundreds of lives. “It’s vital we get across the message to children that smoking is bad. If that means stripping out vending machines or removing cigarettes from behind the counter, I’m willing to do that,” she said.

“Children who smoke are putting their lives at risk and are more likely to die of cancer than people who start smoking later.”

When the ban on displaying tobacco products is implemented England will join just a handful of others to have taken the step. Ontario, Canada, has passed legislation forcing cigarettes under the counter which comes into effect this May. Two administrations in Australia - Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory - are also taking steps to keep tobacco out of sight.

The consultation process, due to begin in late May, will set out the range of options under consideration. Ministers are obliged to detail how much the measures are likely to cost businesses and will be expected to show what benefits banning cigarette displays and vending machines will bring. Interest groups will have one to three months to register objections.

The consultation is also expected to include measures that make it easier to sell nicotine replacement gums and patches.

The most recently available statistics show that 22 per cent of adults smoke, a 2 per cent drop since before the smoking ban was introduced last July. The Government has set a target of reducing the figure to 21 per cent by 2010.

Retailers made clear last night that removing cigarettes from sight could carry heavy costs, forcing many convenience stores to carry out refits costing thousands of pounds.

The Association of Convenience Stores said it would challenge the Government to prove that removing cigarettes from display would have any effect. The body’s chief executive, James Lowman, said that the change would carry “major operational and equipment costs”. “We would expect the Government to present a clear case that these measures were necessary before placing yet another significant burden on thousands of retailers across the country,” he said.

A spokesman for the British Retail Consortium said that, while tobacco represented a “very small” part of overall sales in a typical supermarket, banning all tobacco products from sight could be impractical. “Any further regulations should be balanced against the practical implications for serving customers who want to buy these products.”

Action on the display of tobacco products at the point of sale was first raised in a draft copy of the Cancer Reform Strategy last December.

Ministers have grown increasingly bullish over antismoking measures since tobacco advertising was banned in the press and on billboards in February 2003. The successful introduction of the smoking ban last July was followed by the increase of the minimum age of sale from 16 to 18 which came into force last October. From this autumn new explicit picture warnings on tobacco products will be required in addition to written cautions.

Explore Health

• Expert Advice

• Health Features

• Mental Health

• Alternative Medicine

• Child Health

• Health Club