A Dutchman who developed heart and lung problems after smoking for 26 years has lost his claim for damages against cigarette maker British American Tobacco.

Amsterdam district court on Wednesday threw out the claim, which was the first of its kind in Dutch legal history, says news agency ANP.
The ex-smoker says he smoked Caballero, Peter Stuyvesant and Lord cigarettes between 1957 and 1983. In 1996 he was diagnosed with the chronic lung disease emphysema. He had heart attacks in 2002 and 2004.
The court dismissed his claim against Caballero cigarettes because it had been made too late. The case against Lord was also thrown out because another manufacturer was responsible for production during the period under consideration.
And by the time the smoker moved to Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes, the risks associated with smoking were already well known, the court said.
Claims against tobacco companies by smokers in Britain and the US have also been dismissed because they are too old, or because the risk of smoking was common knowledge.