A DECISION that could consign cigarette vending machines to the scrapheap of history has been welcomed by trading standards officials.

Last week, the House of Commons supported a backbench amendment to outlaw cigarette vending machines in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The amendment to the Government's Health Bill was passed by MPs without going to a vote and now goes to the House of Lords for final approval.

In North Yorkshire earlier this year test purchases revealed that pub vending machines could be undermining efforts to prevent underage tobacco sales.

An investigation by Trading Standards officers found that children as young as 13 walked away with cigarettes from over half of the pubs and hotels visited.

In some cases the machines had been placed near the door to cater for customers standing outside following the smoking ban.

In the checks, 30 licensed premises, ranging from top hotels to village pubs, were visited by young volunteers working for Trading Standards.

In half of them they were able to walk in and buy cigarettes from machines without being challenged.

The county’s executive member for trading standards, Clare Wood, said: "Following our checks, it was apparent that the existing legislation covering cigarette vending machines, which is 75-years-old, was well out of date.

"We needed to tackle the anomaly which allowed children to get hold of cigarettes from a machine without a face-to-face transaction."