E cig
Electronic cigarettes, unlike traditional cigarettes, will allowed to be advertised on television in the UK from November 2014 Reuters

Adverts for electronic cigarettes will be allowed on UK television from 10 November, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has ruled.

E-cigarettes and vaporisers have become hugely popular in the UK and are estimated to have 2.1 million users in Great Britain alone.

However, the huge international companies that sell e-cigs are under strict rules to not show tobacco products in a "positive light" - despite the fact the products contain no tobacco themselves.

The CAP also says any e-cigarette ads must not target under-18s or non-smokers.

But it's likely that manufacturers of e-cigarettes - a multi-million pound business - will utilise large marketing sums and massive financial investment from their bases in the US to capitalise on the new UK law and buy 'prime-time' advertising slots.

The new rules will be monitored and reviewed after a year, the CAP added.

Advertising of tobacco products is banned in the UK, except in the trade press.

A CAP spokesperson said that e-cigarettes were previously included under this legislation because they are held and used like traditional cigarettes.

The new rules are the first "product-specific" code for e-cigarette advertising, and demonstrate a modernisation of advertising standards codes, which were written before e-cigarettes existed.