A FORMER Royal Marine has sealed a potentially lucrative deal which could see ‘cigarettes’ return to thousands of British pubs for the first time since the smoking ban.

Andrew Wrench, 35, is the managing director of Notar UK, a Warrington-based company which has the exclusive UK rights to distribute the ‘Similar’ brand of German cigarette alternatives.

Mr Wrench, who grew up in Wythenshawe and now lives in Lymm, has now signed a distribution deal with the pub vending machine operator Cherwell Group.

Cherwell has agreed to offer Similar products from its vending machines throughout the country and is now planning to roll out the new line at a rate of 300 pubs per month.

Notar UK, which only started operations in December last year, already has supply deals in place with Ryanair and is close to finalising a deal with Baltic Air.

The Similar brand of cigarette substitutes are sold in £6 packets of 10 and deliver nicotine to the user without exposing them to the other harmful ingredients which are present in conventional tobacco products.

Whereas some electronic cigarette devices are designed to look exactly like a tobacco cigarette – releasing a burst of smoke-like steam and glowing red – the non-electronic Similar smokeless cigarette does not require batteries.

Although the government’s smoking ban has been hailed a real boon for health in the UK, it is one of the factors which landlords say has led to the near decimation of the pub trade, with many drinkers choosing to stay at home.

“We are absolutely delighted with our deal with Cherwell,” said Mr Wrench, who worked offshore in the oil and gas industry after spending eight years in the navy.

“This deal will make the world’s most realistic smokeless cigarette available to a significant number of the population who want to smoke legally – or more accurately, who need a cigarette when they can’t have one.

“Recent statistics suggest there are still 11 million smokers in this country who have to sneak outside their places of work or pubs and clubs to enjoy a cigarette.”

Mr Wrench, who launched Notar UK with his co-director Dennis Jones and two investors, said the fact that he was a committed smoker enabled him to see the potential of the Similar.

Bryan Ford, sales director with the Cherwell Group, Britain’s biggest independent vending machine company, said the Similar smokeless cigarette would be available in Greater London, the north west and the north east this month. It will be available in clubs and pubs throughout the rest of the country by the end of the year.