Tobacco cost could rocket post-Brexit according to latest doom and gloom prediction

LEAVING Europe could put the price of cigarettes up by £3 per packet according to the latest prediction on life outside the Union.

As the referendum approaches a report has suggested a pack of 20 cigarettes could go up by a third, a respected international think-tank has said.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned Britons under World Trade Organisation rules leaving the EU would mean tariffs of at least 70 per cent being imposed on tobacco.

This means a packet of 20 cigarettes which costs around £9.60 could rise to £12.74.

If the report proves to be right a ten per day smoker could have to fork out £600 extra per year.

But Leave campaigners insisted tariffs would only rise to 70 per cent if the Chancellor allowed it to happen, suggesting the Treasury could find a lower figure.

A source told The Sun: "We can kick out politicians if we vote Leave, we can't kick out the Brussels bureaucrats if we vote Remain."

Brexit could see tariffs rise a tobacco industry source admitted.

They also said it could safeguard the UK's two remaining cigarette factories or even lead to more being opened.

The price rise prediction is one of many pictures of post Brexit doom and gloom painted by big international institutions. 

The OECD and the Internaitonal Monetary Fund (IMF) have both issued stark predictions about the damage, while the Treasury's estimates have been branded 'b******s' by Tory backbenchers.