CLIMATE and health campaigners have welcomed today’s announcement of a nationwide ban on disposable vapes.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has bowed to pressure to act on concerns over the environmental impact of cartridges containing lithium ion batteries strewn on the streets and the growing numbers of youngsters taking up vaping — 69 per cent of whom use disposables — when the long-term effects remain unknown.

Claire Shrewsbury of climate action group Wrap said: “They present a fire hazard at waste facilities and use an estimated 5,000 electric vehicle batteries-worth of lithium per year.