Is this the future of the modern Scottish grocery store? Sainsbury’s has stopped selling tobacco from its Local store on St Andrew’s Square in Edinburgh city centre in the wake of a new tax imposed by the Scottish government, replacing the cigarette gantry with a wall of computer games.

“The impact of the public health levy, recently introduced by the Scottish government, has led us to undertake a review of the sale of tobacco in our Scottish stores,” said a Sainsbury’s spokesman. “As part of this review we have removed tobacco products from our St Andrew Square store for the time being. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause.”

Sainsbury’s indicated this was a trial and would not say whether it planned to strip out tobacco from any of its other stores north of the border. There is speculation that it might stop selling tobacco in Scotland altogether, but leading tobacco suppliers said this was unlikely.

“We are aware of Sainsbury’s decision to temporarily remove tobacco from its store in St. Andrew’s Square, Edinburgh,” Imperial Tobacco head of grocery Christopher Street said. “We are unable to speculate on whether other multiple grocers will follow suit, but tobacco is, and will continue to be, a vitally important category for retailers there are 12 million UK consumers who choose to smoke and each year they spend over £14bn on their preferred brands in retail outlets.”

Another tobacco manufacturer admitted this was a “worrying development,” but said he would be surprised if any of the other mults followed suit. “Tobacco is that important.”

Under the new Public Health Levy, retailers will be taxed on any store with a rateable value of more that £300,000 that sells both tobacco and alcohol. The Scottish Retail Consortium said the tax had been rushed and had not been properly thought through.

“This is a simply a tax on supermarkets that has been hurried through to fill a hole in the budget rather than about improving the nation’s health,” said an SRC spokeswoman.

“Companies have a choice of whether they pay the levy or change what they sell it’s up to individual retailers to make that choice.”

However, Sainsbury’s received praise from anti-tobacco group Ash, who called on other retailers to follow suit.

“Tobacco is an addictive product that is lethal to half of its consumers when used as intended,” said Ash Scotland chief executive Sheila Duffy. “Sainsbury’s decision will help support its customers who are trying to quit smoking.”

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