Distinctive packaging for cigarettes may be replaced by plain black and white lettering under Government plans to reduce smoking, it has been announced.

A red packet of Marlboro or a gold Benson and Hedges wrapping could become a thing of the past after research showed children easily identify brands and link smoking to being "cool".

Along with putting cigarettes under the counter in shops, banning packs of 10 and restricting vending machines, it is one of the key proposals in the latest document on tobacco control from the Department of Health.

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Ministers are pleased with the success of the public smoking ban and increasing the legal age for buying tobacco and are keen to introduce more measures to stop people smoking and prevent children from taking it up.

The new consultation, launched to mark World Tobacco Day, also includes banning the advertising of cigarette papers and other smoking "paraphernalia".

About a quarter of the adult population smokes and rates are dropping very slowly.

Women are not quitting as fast as men and there are signs that a drop in lung cancer cases in women has stopped and may even be rising.

Smoking increases the risk of cancers, heart disease, stroke, emphysema, bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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