LABOUR peer and former Oxford city councillor Lord Philip Hunt has added his voice to calls for gluten-free food to remain available on prescription.

Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, the GPs' group set to replace NHS Oxfordshire, is looking into telling doctors to stop prescribing gluten-free foods, which would save £350,000 a year.

Lord Hunt, who is Labour’s spokesman for health in the House of Lords, said: “This is one of the consequences of the Government’s foolish changes to the NHS.

“By denying coeliac sufferers access to gluten-free food on prescription, many will simply not be able to afford the essentials which they need to live a healthy life.

“Research shows that the removal of gluten-free food on prescription could result in an increased risk of long term health complications.”