The Government's plan to ban disposable vapes has been branded 'a big mistake' by doctors who warn the move could drive up smoking rates and even lead to a rise in gang violence.

The package of proposals, unveiled by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week, came after reports the number of children vaping has tripled in three years.

But experts warn that users may end up smoking cigarettes instead - potentially reversing years of campaigning which have led to the UK's historically low smoking rate.

Many point to Australia where, despite some of the strictest anti-vaping laws in the world, the number of teens both vaping and smoking has rocketed as a flourishing black market involving organised crime gangs has made the devices easier to buy.

Dr Colin Mendelsohn, chairman of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association, tells The Mail on Sunday that the number of people smoking has increased by five per cent in the past three years 'which is almost entirely people switching back from vaping'.

He adds: 'When you make it harder to access vapes, you get people going back to smoking.

Bans don't work and people end up getting dodgy, unregulated products instead.

'Our Government can't stop it. It makes it easier for kids to access vapes because the black market sells to anyone. Following this route isn't evidence-based, and it's a reaction to hysteria over vaping.

It will cause harm, there will be more of an organised crime problem and you'll have more smokers.

'It's a big mistake for the UK to follow what we've done.'

Although not risk-free, research suggests vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking and has long been heralded as a safer alternative to help people quit.

But the Government is taking drastic action because of an increase in the number of teens buying cheap, single-use disposable vapes which, it is feared, will hook another generation on nicotine when the long-term effects of vaping are not fully understood. 

Many have enticing flavours such as pink lemonade and mango, which officials are also seeking to ban. 

It is hoped that vape users would either quit or move on to the more expensive rechargeable and refillable devices, which will not come under the proposed ban. But statistics illustrate how the plan could 'dangerously' backfire.

In the UK, where it is illegal to sell nicotine-containing vapes to under-18s, about 7.6 per cent of children aged 11 to 17 admit to vaping regularly. 

But in Australia, where the devices are tightly controlled and available only on prescription, the figure is 14.5 per cent.

In addition, nearly 13 per cent of Australian teens smoke - up six-fold since 2019.

Just one per cent of British schoolchildren smoke.

The Australian black market in vapes has also fuelled a major crime epidemic.

'Illegal markets come with a whole range of problems, from turf wars between criminal groups and firebombing of shops to people killed in public executions,' Dr Mendelsohn says.

'The money it raises is then used to fund other criminal activities. There simply isn't the money to police retail outlets and adverts on social media.'

Illicit devices may also be dangerous. In 2019, thousands were hospitalised in the US with lung injuries from a condition called e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI).

Initially it was feared the damage to the lungs in young people was due to vaping in general - but it was found only in certain geographical areas.

Scientists later linked the outbreak to batches of vapes illegally modified to inhale liquid THC, the psychoactive part of cannabis, which included a harmful Vitamin E additive.

Last summer in Sydney, six teens were hospitalised with seizures and vomiting linked to illegal vapes bought on social media.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action On Smoking And Health (ASH), says similar devices were already 'flooding the market' in the UK.

'We all want to see youth vaping curbed,' she adds, 'but what happened in Australia is a warning to us all that regulations need to be carefully thought through, and enforceable, or they risk being counter-productive.'

One study which tested vapes confiscated at a school in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, found they contained more than twice the daily safe limit of lead and nine times the amount of nickel.

They also found compounds called carbonyls, which increase the risk of cancer.

Dr Sarah Jackson, who leads University College London's Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, claims 2.6 million adults who rely on disposable vapes would also be affected by the ban.

'Not having disposable devices may discourage them from vaping because it may seem too difficult compared to continuing to smoke,' she says.

'I've already heard of people saying, 'Well, they're banning them, so they've got to be worse than smoking because you can still buy cigarettes.' '

Dr Mendelsohn adds: 'The UK has been leading the way until now. This is a short-term political move, but it's nonsensical.'