The films could be given 18 certificates in cinemas under plans backed by Greater Manchester health chiefs.

Council leaders will be asked to use special powers to put 'restrictive' ratings on films which could encourage smoking.

That could mean films rated PG in the rest of the country being given a 15 or 18 certificate in Greater Manchester cinemas.

The long-term aim is to introduce a nationwide ban on anyone under 18 seeing a film - in the cinema, on video, or on TV - in which people smoke.

The region's 10 councils are also set to cut all funding to theatres that put on plays involving smoking, even though such performances are protected by law.

The proposals, branded 'the worst kind of nannyism' by pro-smoking campaigners, are part of a manifesto drawn up by Greater Manchester Health Commission.

It will be discussed by the 10 council leaders at a meeting of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA).

The leaders will be asked to immediately sign up to three key proposals - cutting all council funding to theatres and sports grounds that allow smoking, using planning legislation to force stores to move cigarettes away from check-outs, and slapping higher certificates on films that show smoking.

Councils have the power to act as local censors and alter the official certification of a film by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

A number of councils refused to show The Exorcist and Last Tango in Paris in the 1970s - despite both films being passed by the BBFC. In 2002, several councils allowed children under 12 to the 12-rated see Spider-Man.

A report by the GMHC says the councils should for the first time 'take into account smoking when giving a classification to film'.

It says: "For example, if a local authority becomes aware that the tobacco industry has placed smoking in a film by paying for an actor/actress to smoke and that this looks as though the use of the role model could encourage children to smoke, then it would be reasonable to issue a more restrictive classification."

AGMA leaders will be asked to 'strongly endorse' a submission to government arguing for:

No smoking in cars with children present
No smoking by drivers
No smoking at outside tables in restaurants
All films with smoking to be rated 18
No smoking on TV

Neil Rafferty, of pro-smoking lobby group Forest, said: "It is nannyism of the worst kind."

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