Doctors will be able to prescribe e-cigarettes on the NHS for the first time later this year (file photo)

Smokers looking to kick their habit will be able to get a prescription of e-cigarettes on the NHS with the world's biggest firm lined up as a supplier.

E-voke, produced by British American Tobacco, has been granted a licence by Britain's medicines regulator - the Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The company has also got the go-ahead by the Department of Health and it is believed the move will reportedly cost the NHS in the region of £20 per kit and £10 a week for each patient's cartridges.

Making e-cigarettes available on the NHS is expected to bring long-term health budget savings.

At least 2.6 million people are believed to use e-cigarettes, assessed as 95 per cent safer than tobacco, and almost half are ex-smokers.

However, research by the University of California suggests that use of E-cigarettes can lead to cancer.

Experts from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) are also concerned that there will be an overwhelming call for the devices from the public which the NHS will find hard to deal with.

As e-cigarettes will be a medical product they will only be prescribed after an assessment and outgoings could mount up, considering GP consultations cost the NHS £50 each time.

Dr Tim Ballard, the vice chairman of the RCGP, said: 'We welcome e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to cigarettes, but it would be unreasonable for the NHS to be asked to actually fund lifestyle choices for people.

'Potentially, there may be a place for the prescription of e-Voke as part of a smoking cessation programme, but GPs would be very wary of prescribing them until there was clear evidence of their safety and of their efficacy in helping people to quit.'

A spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said the group believed e-cigarettes could help people give up, but more research was needed.

He said:'More high quality peer-reviewed studies on safety and efficacy should be completed in order to provide health professionals with evidence-based assurance, particularly if they are to be included in the publicly funded smoking cessation programmes.'

In August it was revealed that pilot schemes in North East England and Leicester had already started recommending e-cigarettes to patients through council smoking cessation services.

The move will reportedly cost the NHS in the region of £20 per kit and £10 a week for each patient's cartridges. This graphic shows how an e-cigarette works, with a cartridge containing 'pharmaceutical grade nicotine'

But up until now GPs have been unable to recommend them because they were not properly licensed, unlike other nicotine replacement therapies such as gum, lozenges and patches.

The Department of Health said: 'The medicines regulator — the MHRA — is responsible for licensing products for medicinal use. Once there is a licensed product available, it could be prescribed alongside other nicotine replacement therapies.

'Public Health England reported last year that e-cigarettes are 95% safer than smoking tobacco. However, the best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking. We keep all the latest evidence under review.'

The NHS lists e-cigarettes on its website among stop-smoking treatments.

It says: 'Over recent years, e-cigarettes have become a very popular stop smoking aid in the UK. Evidence is still developing on how effective they are, but many people have found them helpful for quitting.'

A spokeswoman for British American Tobacco said: 'Nicovations Limited, part of British American Tobacco's Next Generation Products division, has been granted a licence by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency for its rechargeable electronic cigarette, e-Voke.

'E-Voke uses cartridges containing pharmaceutical grade nicotine. We are now reviewing the commercialisation of e-Voke.'