The British Board of Film Classification has ruled secret agent James Bond can continue smoking and denounced demands he be stopped, The Telegraph reports.

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Numerous anti-smoking groups had petitioned the board to ban films that "promote or glamorize smoking, alcohol abuse or substance misuse," but David Cooke, director of the board, said such drastic action smacked of "the nanny state."

Cooke said 70 percent of the sample audience tested thought cutting smoking scenes would be "unrealistic or a silly thing to do."

Sue Clarke, a board spokesman said the board had no qualms about adult films containing smoking scenes as long as they were not glamorized and not part of a deal between a film and tobacco company.

"It becomes ridiculous if you can't put smoking in a film in context," Clarke said. "If you were remaking Casablanca, Rick's Bar wouldn't be Rick's Bar if it wasn't incredibly smoky and I think we feel that it is absolutely fine for James Bond to smoke.

"However, I don't know what we would do if Harry Potter took up smoking in his next film."