AFTER 10 months deliberation officials have ruled a Stourbridge magician's vanishing lit cigarette trick will not have to disappear.

John Milner, from The House of Magic (UK), Brook Street, has been given limited permission to carry on performing the trick despite the nationwide smoking ban.

John, who is a member of the Inner Magic Circle and International Brotherhood of Magicians, asked Dudley Council whether he could continue to include the trick in his act after the ban on smoking in public places became law in July 2007.

After referring the question to the Local Authorities Coordinating Body on Regulatory Services (LACORS), the council wrote to John on May 30 saying his performance would be exempt from the regulations.

The ruling only applies to premises within Dudley Borough, on show days John will need to get permission from venue owners, only smoke momentarily to prove the cigarette is real and he has been advised put up warning signs.

The magician is perplexed by a ruling he cannot demonstrate or rehearse the trick at The House of Magic (UK).

John said: "If anyone in the shop wants to see this trick performed live we will have to step out onto the pavement."