GOVERNMENT action to curb the spread of vaping among children has been welcomed by MP Ian Liddell-Grainger.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said at a time when the UK was making serious efforts to end smoking, closing off a potential route into the habit was a highly sensible move.

The King’s Speech this week included proposed legislation to allow tighter restrictions on vaping, including a ban on fruit flavours and higher taxes on e-cigarettes.

Vapes may also have to be hidden from view in shops and sold in plain packaging as already happens with tobacco products.

Mr Liddell-Grainger currently represents West Somerset and will be the Conservative candidate in a new constituency taking in parts of Mid Devon around Wellington at the next General Election.

He said he was relieved the Government had eventually appreciated and reacted to the ‘evils’ of the vaping industry.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said: “Vaping is not a harmless activity, it has put people in hospital.

“And when I hear of vapes being given out free at school gates it really infuriates me.

“That is being done for one sole reason - to lure young children into lifetimes of addiction.”

Mr Liddell-Grainger said thousands of public venues were now much healthier and more enjoyable places thanks to the widespread ban on indoor smoking introduced 16 years ago.

He said Government plans to annually raise by a year the age at which tobacco could be legally bought from 2027 would build on that legislation and potentially move the UK closer to becoming a smoking-free society.

“But all that commendable work risks being undermined if at the other end of the scale we allow children to believe that inhaling either vapour or tobacco smoke is an acceptable activity,” he said.

“We need to jump on those producing and promoting vaping products, and for the sake of our children’s health ensure we jump hard.”