Fuming Over Bond

After 13 years without a smoke, world famous secret agent James Bond has started puffing again.

Pierce Brosnan agreed to smoke cigars in the latest Bond film, Die Another Day - despite making an anti-tobacco stand when he first took

Anti-smoking organisation Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) says the move is an irresponsible and deadly ploy.

Clive Bates of Ash said: "I cannot think of another film star who would be so good for the image of smoking as the world's most glamorous and sexy spy.

"Money is the chief suspect behind all this, I'm afraid to say.

"We know this film is the most heavily sponsored in history and has been nicknamed 'Buy Another Day'."

Producer Michael Wilson insists Brosnan came up with the idea to smoke cigars because the story is set in Cuba.

It was "less of an issue" than 007 smoking cigarettes, he insisted.

In one scene, Bond extols the virtues of a cigar with a Cuban gangster.

Bond, better known for his vodka-martinis than his nicotine habit, smoked in his early films but has not been seen with a cigarette since the 1989 film Licence To Kill.

Ian Fleming, the author of the Bond books, depicted 007 as a 60-a-day man.

The British Lung Foundation, which is hosting a special screening of the film, has refused to condemn Die Another Day.

Instead the scene featuring smoking "will be used to educate on the danger of smoking after the screening", a spokesman said.

The Lung Foundation is closely linked to Dame Judie Dench - M - whose husband died of lung cancer last year.

Bollinger champagne, Finlandia vodka, Norelco razors, Aston Martins, Jaguars and Range Rovers are just some of the many products plugged on the film.

But 20th Century Fox reportedly claims it has not received any cash from a tobacco company.

Britain is expected to toughen its rules on cigarette advertising next year, outlawing the use of cigarettes in films and television dramas.