E-cigarettes should be banned from public places like bars and restaurants because of the risks of "passive vaping," medics say.

Senior doctors said that allowing people to vape openly normalises the habit, and could encourage children to take it up.

But public health officials immediately rejected the idea – saying it could be damaging as it might deter smokers from switching to e-cigarettes.

Speaking at the British Medical Association’s annual meeting in Belfast, Dr Iain Kennedy, a consultant in public health from Glasgow, called for a ban, warning that there is no evidence of the long-term safety of the habit.

Dr Iain Kennedy, a consultant in public health, from Glasgow, said: “It is a myth that there is no such thing as passive vaping.”

He said there was clear evidence that non-vapers living in households with vapers had higher levels of exposure to nicotine.

“There are new potential risks, and we don’t yet know the level of those risks,” he said.