Britain's first three-parent babies on are the horizon after Newcastle University was given the green light to carry out IVF using the DNA of two women.

The fertility technique, which was developed by Newcastle scientists, allows doctors to replace an egg’s defective mitochondrial DNA with healthy DNA from a female donor to prevent children suffering debilitating conditions such as muscular dystrophy.

It is controversial because it would result in babies born with the DNA of three people - and effectively, two mothers.

In December the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said clinics could start applying on a case-by-case basis.

Today the HFEA confirmed that Newcastle had been given a licence to carry out the first procedure, which suggests that women are already lined up to undergo the groundbreaking treatment. If they begin straight away, the first three-parent baby could potentially being born around Christmas 2017.