Sterilisation and cleaning equipment will be made available to drug users by pharmacists, after a change in the law announced on Tuesday.

Under current legislation it is illegal for such items as filters, swabs and sterile water to be provided as they can be used to clean injecting sites and to filter and dissolve drugs hygenically.

From August 1 however, items such as these will be available to users from health workers in a bid to reduce health risks, as recommended by the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

"Our top priority is to get drug users off the drugs that cause so much harm to themselves and our communities," said Home Office minister Caroline Flint.

"But we need to be realistic that, for some drug users, that will not happen overnight, and we need to help them reduce the amount of harm they do to themselves and others.

"Providing these items is currently illegal. We know that treatment workers and doctors have been making sensible decisions to provide equipment anyway, but faced the risk of prosecution. We have decided to change the law to help reduce the health risks to drug users.

"The government is working harder than ever to fight the scourge of drugs and to treat the 250,000 chaotic drug users. This year alone we are investing more than £1.2 billion in the fight against drugs, almost half a billion of which will be used to expand and improve treatment services."