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Menthol cigarettes and ten-packs are to be phased out completely under new smoking laws that come into effect on Friday.

Under the new rules, which have come via an EU directive, cigarette packets will have to contain at least 20 cigarettes, and flavoured tobacco and cigarettes will be banned completely.

The minimum contents rule also applies to hand rolling tobacco packets, which must weigh a minimum of 30 grams.

New packaging laws are also coming into place, which will mean that all cigarette boxes will look similar.

All cigarette packets will have to be the same dullish green colour, with the same font, colour, size, case and alignment of text.

They will also have to display large, updated health warnings, which will cover 65 per cent of both the front and back of the packet.

Other changes include introducing EU-wide tracking of tobacco products, and banning the use of "misleading" descriptions on packaging, such as “lite”, “natural” and “organic”.

While the new law states that all cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco products manufactured for sale in the UK must comply with the new regulations from Friday, there will be a one year transitional period to allow retailers to sell off old stock.

This means that from May 21, 2017 onwards the banned products will no longer be offered for sale.

Menthol cigarettes will be given an additional four year phase-out period before they are banned outright on May 20, 2020.

Research has shown that menthol cigarettes can be easier to smoke, and often appeal to beginner smokers.

The tobacco industry has challenged both the Tobacco Products Directive through the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and standardised packaging regulations through the UK courts.

The ECJ has already ruled earlier this month that the TPD was lawful and would not be overturned, while the UK court ruling on the standardised packaging regulations is expected this week.

Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of health charity Action on Smoking Health said: “The European Court of Justice decision is welcome if not surprising: the Directive is lawful and the UK is allowed to go further than the Directive in standardising tobacco packs with respect to matters not harmonised by the Directive.

"We await the UK court judgement, which is expected shortly, but we expect that the court will also confirm that the introduction of standardised packaging in the UK is lawful.

"From May 20 all packs manufactured for sale in the UK will have to be plain, standardised in the same drab green colour with the product name on the pack in a standard font.”