Supermarket retailers in Wiltshire must remove tobacco displays today.

The ban on displays of cigarettes and tobacco has come into force, and is a measure designed to protect young people who were often the target of tobacco promotion.

Smaller shops (under 250 metres square) do not have to change their displays until 2015. Public health officials say the ban is an important step. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also moving towards similar bans.

From today, customers in England will still be able to buy cigarettes in the normal way, but the ban - which was announced in 2008 - will mean cigarettes will have to be kept under the counter or under cover.

Darrell Gale, Consultant in Public Health at NHS Wiltshire said: ''Ending tobacco displays in shops will protect young people from the slick and shiny packaging which make cigarettes seem sophisticated and fashionable. Having the cigarettes undercover will help them to resist the temptation to start smoking.

"It will also help and support adults who are trying to quit by de-normalising tobacco. Smoking kills more than 650 people in Wiltshire every year.”

Public health officials have argued that displaying cigarettes near to things like chocolate and crisps makes smoking seem like an everyday part of life.

Darrell went on to say "Half of all long-term smokers will die from a tobacco-related disease, and most become addicted as teenagers."

Countries including Canada, Iceland, Thailand and Norway have already banned visible tobacco displays.

"Retailers have nothing to fear," said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Ash (Action on Smoking and Health). "The evidence from Ireland, when the legislation was implemented there, was that committed smokers still knew where to buy cigarettes and didn't need to see the displays to decide what they wanted to buy."