A ‘meat tax’ which would almost double the price of a packet of sausages should be brought in to prevent thousands of Britons dying each year, health experts have said.

Researchers at Oxford University set out to determine the level of tax needed to offset the healthcare costs of eating red and processed meat.

They calculated that increasing the cost of red meat by 14 per cent, and processed meat by 79 per cent would prevent the deaths of nearly 6,000 people each year and save the NHS nearly £1 billion annually.

It would mean a £2.50 packet of sausages would rise to £4.47, and a fillet steak increase from £5.50 to £6.27.

The World Health Organisation has classified beef, lamb and pork as carcinogenic when eaten in processed form, and "probably" cancer-causing when consumed unprocessed.

Red meat consumption has also been associated with increased rates of coronary heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes. Together it is thought that meat accounts for more than 60,000 deaths each year.

Lead researcher Dr Marco Springmann, of the Nuffield Department of Population Health (NDPH) at Oxford, said: “Nobody wants governments to tell people what they can and can’t eat.

“However, our findings make it clear that the consumption of red and processed meat has a cost, not just to people’s health and to the planet, but also to the healthcare systems and the economy.