Health experts are pushing for health warning labels to be added to e-cigarettes.

Officials from 15 countries agreed there was now enough evidence to warrant a warning being printed on the packages.

According to health chiefs, the warnings should not be 'softer' than the ones found on cigarettes, Birmingham Live reports.

It became UK law for tobacco packets to carry picture warnings in 2008 and health messages must now take up two-thirds of the pack.

There is only very limited regulation covering the sale of e-cigarettes in the UK. However, they contain nicotine, which is addictive, and have been linked to lung and blood vessel damage.

Researchers writing in BMJ Open said the risks were not being taken seriously.

Dr Ivan Berlin, from the Sorbonne University in France, and his team called for tighter regulation.

He said: “They should not be sold in general stores but in specialised shops, shops selling tobacco or in pharmacies.”

However, health campaigners have argued the use of e-cigarettes should be encouraged as they are widely recognised as being far safer than smoking tobacco.