THE increase in the legal age at which teenagers can buy cigarettes is being welcomed in York, as the city's hospital has already brought in a smoking ban in its grounds.

The Department of Health announced on Monday that the minimum age for purchasing cigarettes will rise from 16 to 18 in October of this year.

Helen Sowden, health improvement manager at North Yorkshire & York Primary Care Trust, said: "It's a really good thing - around 80 per cent of smokers take up smoking in their teenage years."

Mrs Sowden said the increase would make it easier for shopkeepers to tell whether customers were old enough to buy cigarettes.

She said: "It's difficult for shopkeepers to tell the age of a sixteen-year-old and it's more difficult for them to look 18 if they want to purchase cigarettes."

Kim Richardson, proprietor of Acomb News Richardsons Allsorts, hailed the change in the law and said she would not tolerate anyone trying to flout it.

Mrs Richardson said: "If anyone gets abusive, I'll just tell them not to come here - they can please themselves as long as I know I'm not going to get into trouble."

But David Geddis, a GP at Clifton Health Centre, said the law wiould not be easy to apply - or easy to work with the police to enforce.

Mr Geddis said: "The younger age group don't normally buy their own cigarettes - this is not necessarily likely to change. It might be less easy for 11-12-year-olds to get cigarettes from 18-year-olds, as they're hopefully more aware of the risks of smoking for young people."

Mike Proctor, nursing director at York Hospital, said the ban on lighting up in the grounds was going "very well", as it rolled into its second day of operation.

Mr Proctor said: "People on the whole are compliant - I've just had to ask one person not to smoke while they were just about to light up outside casualty. I was very pleased by their reaction - they just didn't realise the ban was already in place."

The change to the minimum age will come after the Government introduces its ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces and workplaces in July this year.

These moves come after The Press and Selby & York Primary Care Trust's Yes To Clean Air campaign was launched last year to help businesses become smoke-free.