Tobacco companies could be forced to sell cigarettes in packets with plain wrapping, under plans published yesterday.

The removal of branding and logos would add to the crackdown on tobacco marketing, which is building on the advertising ban and is expected to lead to an end to point-of-sale advertising, with packets of 10 banned.

The Department of Health in Whitehall published its plans to get tougher on smoking, ahead of World No Tobacco Day today.

It follows on the Scottish Government's similar proposal, announced earlier this month, to force cigarette shop displays out of sight, in an attempt to discourage impulse buying.

The move to ban branding and logos from packaging was suggested by the Holyrood administration, but it would require co-operation with Whitehall to do so, as it is affected by reserved powers on consumer affairs.

Yesterday's ideas were included in a consultation document, The Future of Tobacco Control, which aims to cut smoking rates and prevent young people from picking up the habit. The plan to impose a minimum pack size of 20 is to stop young people who can only afford packs of 10 from buying cigarettes, and there is a proposal to restrict cigarette vending machines to adults only.

It is reckoned that more than 200,000 under-16s start smoking each year and are three times more likely to die of cancer than someone who starts in their mid-20s, according to government figures. It is also claimed tobacco advertising is most effective in reaching children young people.

Whitehall's Public Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo, said: "Protecting children from smoking is a government priority and taking away temptation is one way to do this.

"If banning brightly-coloured packets, removing cigarettes from display and removing the cheap option of a pack of 10 helps save lives, then that is what we should do."

In response, Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, said education and enforcement of the legal age limit is the best way to tackle youth smoking.

"Banning point-of-sale display will make smoking even more attractive to teenagers," he claimed. "Worse, it will drive many smokers towards cheaper counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes. The only people who benefit are black-market operators."

Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: "Two-thirds of smokers start before the age of 18. We need to aim to stop today's children from starting to smoke and becoming part of these unacceptable and wholly preventable statistics."

The Tobacco Alliance, which represents more than 16,000 independent retailers across the UK, said the proposals would impose more restrictions on traders without preventing under-age smoking.

A survey for the group this week found 94% of people believed the main reason under-18s start smoking is because friends and family smoke, and because teenagers see it as an act of rebellion.

It also found 92% of the public do not believe banning 10-packs would reduce consumption.

Alliance spokesman Ken Patel said: "These survey results prove what we retailers have been saying all along, seeing tobacco on display in shops is not a significant cause of youth smoking and banning it will not solve the problem."