BIG tobacco companies are using pricing ploys to keep smokers hooked and the profits rolling in, researchers said yesterday.

The tactics include price-marking, new cheaper brands and reduced-size packs, said academics at the University of Bath and King’s College London.

Their study, which analysed sales data from 2009-15, found that, while total sales of tobacco had fallen, sales of the cheapest cigarettes and roll-your-own products had increased.

The prices of the cheapest factory-made cigarettes and tobacco for rolling your own have not changed since 2012, it was revealed, while the price of “sub-value” cigarettes fell by 7p between January 2013 and December 2015.

Prices on the cheapest brands are also being “manipulated” to minimise the shock of tax increases, said Dr Rob Branston of the University of Bath school of management.

The industry especially does this around the time of the Budget to “hoodwink” smokers before putting up prices later, he warned, adding that the practice was made possible by the profits from premium products.

Dr Rosemary Hiscock of the University of Bath tobacco control research group said: “The government needs to grasp the full range of tactics the industry is deploying if it’s to deliver successful policy responses that truly protect public health.”

The researchers are calling for an increase in tax on tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes in the forthcoming Budget to bring it more in line with the heavy tax on cigarettes.

They also want to see more done to prevent cheap products from hooking children on the habit and causing people who would otherwise quit to keep smoking.