Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said the £4 increase in the price of each disposable e-cigarette, currently around £4.99, would make e-cigarettes significantly less affordable for children, but still cheaper than tobacco.

Disposable e-cigarettes, the cheapest e-cigarettes on the market, are now the most used product among young people currently vaping, a seven-fold increase from 7% in 2020 and 8% in 2021 to 52% in 2022 many.

It argues that such a tax would also have environmental benefits, with discarded disposable e-cigarettes equivalent to throwing away 10 tonnes of lithium each year.

Deborah Arnott, ASH chief executive, said: "Smoking is far more harmful than vaping and remains the greatest threat to our children's health. But vaping is not without risks, and given the recent increase in vaping among children, there is an urgent need for government action to improve regulation and enforce enforcement.

"Kids who vape mostly use cheap disposables that can be bought for under five bucks. Reducing vaping affordability by introducing a specific levy on single-use vaping in the March budget would be simple As a first step, this will reduce children's use of e-cigarettes and the vast amount of single-use e-cigarettes that end up in landfill."

The calls for the tax come as the Local Government Association (LGA) warns that tough new measures are needed to regulate the display and marketing of vaping products, like tobacco, in a bid to crack down on shops selling vaping products to children.

While it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18, social media has featured posts of teens showing off new e-cigarettes and discussing flavors such as pink lemonade, strawberry banana and mango.

The LGA said there had been a spate of incidents in many places in recent weeks where shops were caught selling e-cigarettes to teenagers and councils had had to step up enforcement to deal with the growing problem.

The committee is particularly concerned about the marketing of e-cigarettes with designs and flavors that may appeal to children, particularly those that come in fruit and bubble gum flavors and come in colorful, child-friendly packaging.

In contrast, the sale of tobacco is heavily regulated, with plain packaging and large warnings, and requires products to be kept behind the counter.

The LGA is calling for e-cigarettes to come in plain packaging and be kept out of sight behind the counter, with mandatory age-of-sale markings on products.

David Fothergill, chairman of the Welfare Committee, said: "It is not right for shops to be able to prominently display vaping paraphernalia for all to see, for example in shop windows, often in bright, colorful packaging that appeals to children.

"E-cigarettes should only be used as a smoking cessation aid. While research shows that vaping poses a fraction of the risks of smoking, it is deeply concerning that an increasing number of children who have never smoked are vaping cigarette."

"This has become a major concern for councils, which have seen a dramatic increase in the sale of vaping products to under-18s by shops and others."

"That's why we're calling for stronger and more stringent regulation of vaping products to address the growing exposure of children to vaping."

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