The HPV vaccine has been given to teenage girls since 2008, leading to a 86 per cent drop in rates of infection

Cervical cancer could be eliminated in Britain within decades because the HPV vaccine has been so successful, scientists said yesterday.

Rates of infection by the cancer-causing viruses have fallen by 86 per cent among young women aged 15 to 19 since they started being vaccinated in schools in 2008, researchers found.

The HPV vaccine prevents infection from human papillomavirus, a common group of viruses that are behind 90 per cent of cases of cervical cancer.

A new meta-analysis of studies covering 60 million global patients, published in The Lancet, shows that HPV rates in teenage girls dropped by 83 per cent on average across 14 western nations using the vaccine between 2007 and 2015.

The jab also led to a 51 per cent drop