Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Tobacco companies in the U.K. must restrict their advertisements to the size of a paperback book after new regulations came into force today.

Companies that make cigarettes and other tobacco products are only allowed to advertise in stores, pubs and clubs, and from today those ads must be A5 size or smaller, the Department of Health said in an e-mailed statement. Thirty percent of the space must be used for a health warning.

``These new regulations will mean that people will no longer be bombarded by the large, colorful tobacco advertising at their local supermarket or corner shop,'' Health Secretary John Reid said in the statement.

Western European governments are tightening regulations to discourage people from smoking. European Union member states have agreed to outlaw newspaper, radio and Internet tobacco advertising next year, and countries such as Ireland have imposed restrictions on smoking itself.

Tobacco-related diseases kill more than 650,000 people a year in the EU, about one person a minute, according to the European Commission.

The U.K. in February 2003 banned cigarette ads on billboards and in the press, and the government is now considering a ban on smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars that serve food. A total ban on advertising would reduce the proportion of smokers in the U.K. by 2.5 percentage points, the Department of Health said.

An A5 piece of paper measures 14.8 centimeters by 21 centimeters.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Mulier in Madrid at tmulier@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 20, 2004 19:01 EST