The plan to ban disposable vapes has been welcomed by campaigners in Kent.

Some shop-owners say it will hit their businesses hard, but others say the benefits will extend well beyond the safeguarding of children’s health.

Charlotte Lewis, of the Kent Wildlife Trust said: “This is a win for wildlife as well as for child health.

“Around 5 million vapes are thrown away each week, which is enough to cover 22 football pitches.

“They contain materials and poisonous substances including plastic, lithium and nicotine, all of which can be hazardous to animals.

“Over the last few years, we have found an increasing number dumped on our nature reserves.

“This is not only unsightly, but they are difficult to recycle and pose a significant risk to wildlife and grazing animals.

“We welcome the news that disposable vapes will be banned and hope this helps to raise public awareness of the hazards that disposable plastics like vapes and balloons cause to the animals on our nature reserves.”

The government announced on Monday that it intends to ban disposable vapes, and also to place restrictions on flavours and packaging to make them less appealing to children.

Adults will still be able to buy refillable vapes.

The government said the number of children using vapes in the past three years had tripled.

Use among younger children was also rising, with 9% of 11 to 15-year-olds now using vapes.

The long-term health impacts of vaping are unknown and the nicotine contained within them can be highly addictive, with withdrawal sometimes causing anxiety, trouble concentrating, and headaches.

Disposable vapes have been the key driver behind the rise in youth vaping, with the proportion of 11 to 17-year-old vapers using disposables increasing almost ninefold in the last two years, despite it already being illegal to sell any vape to anyone under 18.

The government had already announced that it is to become illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009, in a bid to prevent the creation of a new generation of cigarette smokers.

The vape ban is likely to be in place next year.

Conservationists and animal charities alike have welcomed the news, saying the new laws may also prevent the loss of wildlife that mistake vapes for food and unwittingly consume them.

Statistics released by the Veterinary Poisons Information Service show the number of cases relating to pets consuming vape liquid or electronic cigarette products had risen by 60% between 2017 and 2022, rising from 88 to 141.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday: “Children shouldn't be vaping. We don't want them to get addicted. We still don't understand the full long-term health impacts.”

To help stop underage sales, additional fines will be brought in for any shops caught selling vapes illegally to children.

Disposable vapes are already banned in New Zealand, with Australia, France, and Germany planning to follow.

Environment campaigner and Maidstone councillor Tony Harwood (Lib Dem) said: “It finally seems our government has woken up to the fact that enabling nicotine addiction across a whole new generation of young people while contaminating our environment with 5 million disposable vapes each week is not such a good idea.”

Cllr Harwood has been campaigning for disposable vapes to be banned for several years, launching an online petition in September 2022.

He said: “I only wish the government had acted sooner when the problems caused by disposable vapes became all too clear in our local communities. The cosseted 'Westminster bubble' simply had no idea what was going on in the real world.”

County councillor Mark Hood was also delighted at the ban.

He said: “Kent County Council supported our Green Party motion calling for the government to ban disposable vapes in July 2023 which was followed by the Local Government Association calling for a ban the following day.”

The motion, proposed by Cllr Jenni Hawkins (Hythe West) and seconded by Cllr Hood (Tonbridge), garnered cross-party support.

Cllr Hawkins said at the time: “This is not about banning nicotine, or e-cigarettes; it is simply asking the government to ban a delivery system for nicotine which is marketed towards children while creating unnecessary and hazardous waste.”

Cllr Hood said: “Disposable vapes are a littering disaster, with the devices and packaging becoming an increasing problem in our communities.

“The design of disposable e-cigarettes makes it virtually impossible to recover and recycle the lithium batteries inside them.

“Lithium is a material which is critical to the Net Zero transition, and the 10 tonnes discarded from disposable vapes each year is the same as that needed for 1,200 electric cars.”

The devices also cause a health and safety risk. There have been 700 fires in refuse lorries and waste sites caused by lithium batteries in the UK.”

“All this is on top of the public health risk, particularly to children.”

Kent County Council has announced a trading standards scheme aimed at stemming vape sales to youngsters, as well as educating them and their families.

The two-year campaign will result in the prosecution of retailers who persistently offend.

A KCC spokesperson said: “Our Public Health team is taking a proactive approach to tackling the issue of vaping among young people.

"This includes efforts to curb illegal sales, advise and inform children and families about risks, work with young people to co-design interventions for behaviour change and work with local and national partners to strengthen the messaging about vaping to the public.”

However, not everyone is in favour of the government’s ban.

The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said it was “dismayed” as disposable vaping products “help people to quit tobacco”.

The association said: “While action to prevent youth access to vaping is critical, this move smacks more of a desperate attempt by the government to sacrifice vapers for votes ahead of the upcoming general election.

“If the government thinks banning disposables will help protect young people, they are completely misguided.

“This counterproductive legislation will sooner put children at greater risk by turbo-charging the black market and, in turn, making it easier for them to access illicit and non-compliant vapes.

“The answer to youth vaping doesn’t lie in counterproductive bans and restrictions, but rather ineffective and proactive enforcement – which is woefully lacking – of the law which states that it is illegal for vapes to be sold to minors.”