Lobbyists and cigarette companies have given their response to the proposals to ban tobacco advertising announced in the Queen's speech.

ASH, which has been at the forefront of the campaign to ban cigarette advertising, welcomed the statement. A spokesman said: "We hope it will close the loop-hole in the EU directive. We welcome the bill being included. It was a government manifesto commitment at the last election but there have been more and more delays. We want to make sure that the government puts it well up the legislative agenda."

The spokesman for British American Tobacco, said: "It is well known that along with other UK tobacco companies, we have long held the view that advertising bans do not help to reduce smoking, nor prevent under-age smoking. However we fully accept that national governments must be responsible for setting policies and laws, and we respect the Government's concerns.

"As the Government now seeks to legislate in this area, we offer open-minded and constructive discussions on how best to ensure that legislation is reasonable, workable, and can maintain fair competition amongst rival brands competing for the custom of adults who have chosen to smoke."