E-CIGARETTES should be medically licensed for use by stop smoking services, Blaenau Gwent MP Nick Smith has said.

The Labour MP was speaking in Parliament during a debate on a report which showed using e-cigarettes, or 'vaping', can be effective as a way to stop smoking.

There are currently no e-cigarettes licensed for medical use, meaning they cannot be recommended by GPs or stop smoking services.

Addressing chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, which put the report together, Norman Lamb, Mr Smith said: "I note that here in this report, it says that medically licensed e-cigarettes could assist smoking cessation efforts by making it easier for medical professionals to recommend them as a stop smoking treatment for patients. I think that’s really good.

“Does (Mr Lamb) know what the government is doing to encourage e-cigarette manufacturers to put forward products for licensing?”

Mr Lamb responded: “I don’t think there’s anything in particular being done by the government to encourage organisations, that I’m aware of, to seek medical licensing.

“But I think the prize here is that, if there was a medically licensed product, it would reach a proportion of current smokers who would be reassured that the medical license, in a sense, guaranteed that it would be a sensible step for them to take and a helpful one in giving up smoking.” Figures have shown 22 per cent of adults in Blaenau Gwent smoke.