Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said the measure was part of a new anti-smoking plan being developed by the government. Campaigners said it should take effect by the end of the year.

Similar bans have been announced by several other European countries, including Germany, Belgium, and Ireland. It is also reported that the UK is considering one.

The price of disposable vapes in France is around €9 (£7.70) – less than the cost of a packet of 20 cigarettes. About 600 puffs – the equivalent of 40 cigarettes – are supposed to be offered by them.

However, the French National Academy of Medicine described them as “particularly sly traps for children and adolescents”.

Élisabeth Borne writes, “they create a reflex, a gesture, and then children are attracted to tobacco”.

Campaigners say manufacturers, many of them based in China, deliberately target teenagers by using bright colours and flavours reminiscent of sweet shops, such as marshmallow, chocolate and hazelnut, watermelon, and ice candy. If you’re under 18, you can’t buy “puffs,” but Sam said it was easy to get around the restriction. Tobacconists systematically avoid asking for proof of age, according to ACT.

Disposable e-cigarettes have also been linked to ecological damage by campaigners. According to a study last year by the environmental organization Material Focus, more than one million devices are thrown away every week in the UK.

A group of French doctors and environmentalists wrote in Le Monde earlier this year that it is an environmental plague.

Each disposable e-cigarette contained a non-removable battery with around 0.15 grams of lithium, nicotine salts, and traces of heavy metals.