If you pick up a copy of the re-issued Beatles compilation Capital Albums Vol. 2 when it is released next month you might notice something different from the original version. EMI have deemed is necessary to remove cigarettes all four members of the band are holding on the cover artwork.

So convinced are the label that the public need not be reminded that the Beatles might ever have enjoyed a quick fag that two of Ringo Starr’s fingers have been removed from the picture too.

This is not the first time The Beatles have had their cigarettes photographically stubbed out; the cover of I Wanna Hold Your Hand was doctored for a 1984 US re-issue, as was the iconic Abbey Road image for a poster in 2003.

Rumours that EMI are also suppressing an unheard Beatles album entitled I Love Smoking Fags, Me featuring fourteen songs devoted to the promotion of tobacco use have so far been unconfirmed.