WELLINGTON -- A New Zealand woman dying of lung cancer is suing British American Tobacco for NZ$330,000, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the South Pacific country, her lawyer said.

The civil claim by Janice Pou alleges that the tobacco company's negligence caused her to become addicted to cigarettes at the age of 17 and subsequently contract lung cancer, lawyer John French said.

"It's all within the basic legal principles of a negligence claim and everything that's necessary for a successful claim of negligence is there," he said.

Pou is seeking NZ$200,000 for pain and suffering, NZ$50,000 for loss of enjoyment of life, NZ$50,000 for loss of expectation of life and the balance for medical bills and loss of earnings, Reuters reported.

It could take up to a year before the case is heard in New Zealand's High Court, French said.

A spokesman for British American Tobacco NZ, Carrick Graham, said the company intended to defend the legal action strongly.

"We manufacture tobacco products for informed adults who choose to smoke, and adult smoking is a matter of choice and personal responsibility," he said.

An Australian jury in April awarded a $700,000 in damages to cancer-stricken Melbourne grandmother Rolah McCabe in a case against American British Tobacco.

She was the first Australian smoker to win a case against a global cigarette company although in the United States, tobacco firms have paid millions of dollars to settle a series of suits brought by sick smokers.

British American Tobacco, the world's second largest tobacco maker, has a 78 percent share of the New Zealand cigarette market.

Anti-smoking lobby group ash New Zealand applauded Pou's action saying tobacco companies need to be held accountable for the high death rate from cancer induced by smoking.

"We have had decades of industry cover-up and smoker reassurance in New Zealand and we can only admire Janice, who has had the strength and courage to take on the tobacco industry," ash director Trish Fraser said.