A market trader from Ayr in Scotland has become the first to receive an order banning him from selling tobacco under new government legislation.

John Scullion was investigated after being discovered selling illicit tobacco outside the town’s Sunday market.

He was fined £630 at the town’s sheriff court earlier this month after pleading guilty to a number of charges relating to the sale of tobacco, and to not being appropriately registered.

New legislation requiring all Scottish tobacco retailers to register themselves was introduced on April 1 2011, in conjunction with a fixed penalty notice scheme and the ability for courts to impose tobacco banning orders.

The council was granted a Tobacco Retailing Banning Order against Scullion. He now faces a £20,000 fine, or six months in jail, if he is caught selling tobacco locally within the next 12 months.