A CITY health chief last night said he feared the Conservative Government could “water down” anti- smoking legislation.

Gideon Ben-Tovim, chairman of Liverpool Primary Care Trust, said thousands of lives would be put at risk if politicians did not continue with plans to limit cigarette branding and vending machines.

He was due to give a speech today at the Tobacco Control conference at Liverpool’s Maritime Museum, on the day the Government launches a Public Health White Paper.

He told the Daily Post: “There are worrying signs that Government is listening to business lobbying, and a real risk that existing legislation may be watered down or even repealed, and that planned legislation may never be put in place.

“I think many people believe that the national legislation in 2007, which has been so effective, means there's no problem any more.

“Yet one in four adults in Liverpool still smoke, thousands of young people in the city take up smoking every year, and there is still a huge human and financial cost to be paid for smoking.” Health chiefs estimate that treating smoking- related illness costs the NHS more than £10m a year in Liverpool alone, while more than 1,500 Liverpool under-18s start to smoke every year.

However, Mr Ben-Tovim was encouraged by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s proposal to force tobacco companies to use plain packaging.