A Sri Lankan tailor has become the first smoker on the island to try to sue a tobacco company for damages.

The man, Kurukulasuriyage Cecil Perera, is claiming about forty-thousand dollars from the Ceylon Tobacco Company, which, he says is responsible for his addiction and illnesses, including lung cancer.

The BBC Colombo correspondent says the case will be watched closely in Sri Lanka where a large proportion of the male population smokes.

The Ceylon Tobacco Company is owned largely by the international consortium, British-American Tobacco.

It is the biggest private sector tax-payer in Sri Lanka.