A MONMOUTHSHIRE county councillor is proposing that the council adopts a clampdown on e-cigarettes on its premises today.

Cllr Tony Easson, who represents Dewstow, will propose that the council treats e-cigarettes exactly the same as conventional cigarettes by banning their use.

He claims manufacturers of e-cigarettes are unconcerned about possible health risks and people becoming addicted to the nicotine they contain.

A former smoker, Cllr Easson said he gave up smoking cigarettes overnight in 1962 as he needed to buy a car.

Caerphilly council has already banned the use of e-cigarettes in their buildings and vehicles, taking a lead from the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

It will cover all of the council’s employees and agency workers and they will also be forbidden from charging their e-cigarettes’ batteries on the council’s premises. When the policy was first mooted, Caerphilly’s cabinet member for human resources and governance Cllr Christine Forehead said: “This move to strengthen our no smoking policy shows that we are doing all we can to ensure we are providing a healthy, smoke-free work environment for our employees.”

The Welsh Government has also recently said it plans to ban them in public places.

First developed in China and marketed in 2007, e-cigarettes are promoted as an alternative to cigarettes. Rather than burning tobacco, they heat up a liquid containing nicotine, which turns into a vapour and is then inhaled.