Cigarette that puts itself out

The Government was today urged to press tobacco firms to make cigarettes that put themselves out in a bid to cut the number of people killed in house fires.

The Fire Brigades Union said so-called "firesafe" cigarettes, introduced in New York and Canada, should be sold here.

General secretary Andy Gilchrist has sent Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott latest figures showing 582 people died in house fires caused by smouldering cigarettes between 1999 and 2003.

"It would be a massive leap towards achieving our target of eliminating all fire deaths," he said.

Deborah Arnott, of health campaigning charity Ash, said: "The tobacco industry have had the technology to create fire-safe cigarettes for over 20 years. It is scandalous."