By Julian Whittle Political editor

Last updated 10:04, Friday, 20 June 2008

Cigarette sales will be licensed in the same way as alcohol is, if an influential group of Cumbria county councillors get their way.

A new council report puts the case for stricter controls on tobacco sales and tougher sanctions on shopkeepers that flout the rules.

It is likely to form the basis of a county council response to a Government consultation on smoking, which could in turn lead to a change in the law.

Cleator Moor South and Egremont county councillor Simon Leyton chaired a group of councillors that drew up the report, The Last Gasp.

He said: “Licensing tobacco products would act as a powerful deterrent against the sale of cigarettes to children.

“Alcohol is licensed and there is no reason why the sale of tobacco should not be subject to similar regulation.”

The Last Gasp argues that, if retailers were licensed, those who sold cigarettes to children or traded in bootleg tobacco products could have their licences revoked.

It also calls for shops to be allowed to sell nicotine replacement products more widely alongside cigarettes.

Both measures would require changes in the law.

The report was approved by the council’s health and wellbeing scrutiny committee this week and goes before the full council next Thursday.

Councillors took evidence from a range of experts.

They also commissioned the Cumbria Youth Alliance to survey attitudes to smoking among 2,000 young people.