If you are a smoker and have a puff while you are driving with children in the car you could be fined £50 as of today.

Drivers in England are now banned from lighting up in their cars if they are carrying youngsters as passengers.

The move follows a similar ban in Wales and was brought in to protect children under the age of 18 from passive smoking.

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But the new law has divided opinion in Kent, with some welcoming the ban - and others criticising it as an example of the "nanny state" interfering in people's lives.

Commenting on KentOnline sister paper the Dartford Messenger's Facebook page, Charlene Letts said a child's health had to take priority.

"We are aware now of the damage smoking can cause, and passive smoking, so why would anyone take the risk of endangering a child’s health," she said.

"Smoking is a choice but that choice is taken away from an innocent child when people smoke around them."

Mary Cresswell-Forrester measured oxygen levels in primary school children as part of a smoking cessation project and branded smoking in children’s presence as abuse.

She said: "It was not surprising that those who had recently travelled to school in a car when a parent smoked had significantly reduced oxygen levels equivalent to being a 10-a-day smoker."

"Three million children are exposed to second hand smoke in cars, putting their health at risk" - Jane Ellison, public health minister

Lyndsey Cracknell is a smoker but said she had never smoked in her car and, although the law was "fair", she doubted it would be enforced.

However, Mark Croucher branded the ban "absurd and almost entirely unenforceable", while Lian Bennett said it was another way "to interfere and control private lives".

Eddie Williams disagreed with the new law, saying it was a case of the nanny state "poking its nose in again" to make money, and Lynda Rivett said the laws against smokers made them "second-class citizens".

The non-smoker added: "There are many more unhealthy 'things' than cigarettes. Being in the company of smokers does not bother me at all.

"I have breathed in passive smoke for 66 years and am healthy with no chest, lung or breathing problems."

Dartford MP Gareth Johnson (Con), himself a former cigarette smoker who now has the occasional cigar, said while the government has a responsibility to protect children, it should let adults make their own decisions.

He also questioned why the ban related to vehicles only.

He said: "It is a little odd that we are banning smoking in cars with children yet it is still perfectly legal to smoke in other places where children are, including caravans.

"While it is right to protect children, I think this law will be very difficult to police and I don't think it should become a policing priority."

The new regulations were passed in the House of Commons, after more than 340 MPs voted in favour of the new legislation, while just 74 voted against the move.

More than 430,000 children are exposed to second-hand smoke in cars each week according to the British Lung Foundation, which welcomed the ban as a victory.

Passive smoke in children can increase the risk of asthma, meningitis and cot death, health experts say.

Public health minister Jane Ellison said: “Three million children are exposed to second hand smoke in cars, putting their health at risk.

“We know that many of them feel embarrassed or frightened to ask adults to stop smoking which is why the regulations are an important step in protecting children from the harms of secondhand smoke.”

Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “This ground-breaking measure is a tremendous victory for the half a million children being exposed to second-hand smoke in the family car every week in Medway and across the UK.

“After years of campaigning for this change in the law, common sense prevailed and hundreds of thousands of children will now finally be protected from the harms of second-hand smoke."