Last updated at 12:04 14 May 2008

Inventors have created an electric cigarette which gives a nicotine hit while still managing to avoid the smoking ban.

The small white stick, which looks just like a proper cigarette, contains a chamber that vapourises pure liquid nicotine into a puff of steam.

Smokers can inhale the vapours as they would a cigarette smoke and still get the buzz - without taking in any harmful substances.

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Electric cigarette: It provides a nicotine 'hit' but gets round the smoking ban

Nicotine is its only ingredient, unlike tobacco alternatives which contain over 4,000 chemicals and tar.

The electric cigarette is battery powered, has a glowing red tip and tastes like the real thing.

Makers claim it can be used inside pubs and restaurants despite the national smoking ban as it has no flame and does not produce smoke.

They also say the cigarette cannot cause lung cancer as it only contains nicotine.

The stick, called Gamucci Micro Electronic Cigarette, uses small cartridges which are filled with the liquid substance.

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There are three types of cartridge, 'low' which contains six milligrams of nicotine, 'medium' which has 11mg, and 'high' which contains 16mg.

A tiny atomizing chamber inside the stick heats up the liquid when the user takes a drag, and within a second reduces it to vapour.

The effects kick-in almost instantaneously and provide a nicotine hit without harmful tar and carcinogens.

Passive smoking is impossible, making it perfect for indoor use.

The Gamucci is on sale via online gadget company I Want One Of Those for £49.95 which includes two sticks, five 'high-strength' cartridges and a mains charger.

But it is only available to people aged 18 or over and is not suitable for pregnant or breastfeeding women.

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Tim Booth, founder of I Want One Of Those, said: "The Gamucci can be used by anyone who enjoys having a cigarette with a pint in the pub.

"It doesn't have a flame and doesn't produce smoke or harmful chemicals yet still gives people a nicotine hit.

"The Gamucci contains a small 3.7 volt battery and atomizing chamber where you can plug in a nicotine cartridge.

"Sucking on the Gamucci triggers the atomizing chamber to heat up.

"This chamber gets very warm very quickly and reduces the nicotine to a vapour which can then be inhaled.

"The nicotine hit can be felt by the smoker almost immediately, just like a tobacco cigarette.

"The Gamucci gets rather warm to the touch but the vapour cools by the time it reaches the mouth - it is not like boiling steam.

"It tastes like a tobacco cigarette and the tip glows red when you take a draw.

"The Gamucci is charged up using a mains charger and it will last all day for a fairly heavy smoker.

"The purchase price includes two cigarettes so you can have one on charge at home while you take the other one to work.

"We are not selling it as an aid to give up smoking as 50 per cent is addiction to the nicotine and 50 per cent is addiction to the actual physical habit.

"But it works for smokers who do not have the will power to give up.

"It is not harmful to them or to the people around them - there is no worry of passive smoking so it should not be effected by the ban.

"Obviously some restaurant or pub proprietors may not let you use a Gamucci as they might still feel that it is a cigarette as it looks like one.

"At the end of the day it is up to them but technically it does not produce smoke so is therefore not a cigarette."

I Want One Of Those does not currently stock refill cartridges but they can be bought directly from Gamucci's website.

A pack of five, which is the equivalent of 100 tobacco cigarettes, costs 6.99 pounds.

Simon Clark, director of pro-smoking campaign group Forest, believes the Gamucci is a good idea however he believes smokers may miss lighting a real cigarette.

He said: "Anything that offers people more choice has to be a good thing.

"I'm sure there is a market for the Gamucci but I do not know how big it will be.

"People often over-look the fact that smokers enjoy the whole ritual surrounding cigarette such as taking one out of a packet, lighting it and then smoking it.

"These rituals are very much part of the appeal."

Gamucci's next venture is cartridges that are flavoured with mint, apple, cherry, chocolate and coffee.

They will either come in either 'high' strength nicotine or nicotine-free.