The owner of UK concert venues such as the Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Brixton Academy is to officially allow vaping after reaching a deal with e-cigarette maker Blu Cigs.

The deal between the Academy Music Group, Live Nation Entertainment and Blu, which runs until 2016, will see Blu sell its products at all 15 O2 Academy venues in major UK cities and towns.

Previously, each AMG group venue set its own vaping policy, in many cases consigning e-cigarette users to the same areas as smokers.

“Academy Music Group and Live Nation venues host the world’s biggest music acts, so it’s the ideal opportunity for us to reach a huge audience of adult music fans across the UK who don’t want to continue missing their favourite songs to smoke and now are free to enjoy the pleasure of both,” said Blu Cigs CEO Jacob Fuller.

The announcement is part of a move towards a more permissive attitude to e-cigarettes by many music venues and concert and festival organisers, including The Warehouse Project in Manchester, Bestival on the Isle of Wight and the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Sussex.