Here’s what cigarette packaging will look like from tomorrow
It's official: big tobacco has been told to back off and new plain packaging rules are due to come into force tomorrow.
After a landmark ruling this morning, cigarette companies will be forced to package their products in a dirty green box (somewhere between olive and khaki), complete with those gruesome warnings about what their contents will do to their lungs.
A Department of Health consultation document published in 2014 gives us some indication as to what the new cigarette packets will look like – although new rules suggest those warnings may end up being even bigger: new EU legislation means they now need to take up at least 65 per cent of the pack.
The new rules also mean hand-rolled tobacco pouches must be the same shade of green, containing a minimum of 30g of tobacco.
Eventually, packs of 10 cigarettes will be outlawed, as will menthol and skinny cigarettes.
The move has prompted outraged reaction from tobacco giants, including the likes of British American Tobacco, which optimistically said it was "by no means the final word".
While the new rules come into effect tomorrow, the new packets won't start appearing on shelves for a while – companies have a year to get rid of the products they currently have.