11:56am UK, Monday November 07, 2005

Anti-smoking campaigners are fuming at the development of a "safer" cigarette designed to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

British American Tobacco (BAT) is planning to use a new filter system which removes more toxins but still allows nicotine to enter the lungs.

180 cigarette smoke smoking silhouette in scotland

'No such thing as a safe cigarette'

The new brand - which could be launched next year - would look and taste like normal cigarettes.

But John Britton, a professor of epidemiology at Nottingham University, told The Daily Mirror: "These new cigarettes could be more like jumping off the 15th floor instead of the 20th.

"Theoretically the risk is less - but you still die."

A spokeswoman for BAT admitted: "There is no such thing as a safe cigarette.

"We are working very hard to bring a reduced risk product to market, but we are very, very far away from that."

It is reported the firm will stop short of calling the cigarettes safe, instead labelling them "potentially safer".

Experts fear more people will die if they smoke the safer brand believing they will not suffer serious illness.

Deborah Arnott, director of anti-smoking group ASH, added: "This is yet another cynical marketing ploy by a tobacco company.

"The safer cigarette is a contradiction in terms. Theoretically the risk may be lower but you still die."