LIGHTING up a cigarette in a national park in NSW is set to be outlawed as the State Government moves to stamp out a key cause of bushfires.

The ban will apply to picnic areas, campgrounds, beaches, lookouts and walking tracks in all 860 national parks, including the key tourist hotspot of Sydney Harbour National Park.

Motorists driving a through a national park will also be forced to stub out their cigarettes with the regulation also applying to local roads, although State and Federal roads are excluded.

The ban will only take effect from January 1 to allow for the implementation of a community education campaign before fines of $300 take effect.

Despite both fire authorities and the government acknowledging discarded cigarette butts contribute to the State’s bushfires, smoking has to date been permitted in all national parks.