Ruling on UK tobacco vending appeal

Ruling on UK tobacco vending appeal

The Court of Appeal has today dismissed an appeal by Imperial Tobacco Group PLC's cigarette vending machine subsidiary Sinclair Collis over legislation to ban sales of tobacco from vending machines in the UK.

Today's ruling upholds a decision by the High Court in December 2010 to reject Sinclair Collis' legal challenge to the relevant sections of the UK Health Act 2009 which seek to ban tobacco vending sales from 1 October 2011.

Two of the three Court of Appeal judges agreed that the High Court's decision should be upheld. The view of the third judge was that a ban on tobacco vending sales was disproportionate.

We will be asking the Court for permission to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. If permission to appeal is granted, we have also asked the Court to delay implementation of the vending ban until the appeal has been decided.

Notes to Editors

Sinclair Collis is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco. The company is based in Wolverhampton and employs 146 people in the UK.

EnquiriesGerry Gallagher (Director of Investor Communications)Telephone: +44 (0) 117 933 7014

John Nelson-Smith (Investor Relations Manager)Telephone: +44 (0) 117 933 7032

Simon Evans (Group Press Officer)Telephone: +44 (0) 7967 467684