THE NEW British Labour government has vowed to outlaw sponsorship of sports events by cigarette companies. Health secretary Frank Dobson said yesterday that the government's draft Bill to ban tobacco advertising would also cover sponsorship.

Motor racing, cricket and snooker are the three sports likely to be worst affected by the news. Addressing the Royal College of Nursing's annual congress in Harrogate, Dobson added the Government would give the sports involved time to reduce their dependency on tobacco and find other sponsors.

"We don't want to harm these sports, but they must recognise that by helping promote the sales of tobacco they are harming the health of many of their own sports spectators," Dobson said.