Sex robots are unlikely to solve loneliness or reduce sex crimes, NHS doctors say.

The booming sex technology industry has seen the devices sold for more than £10,000 each, with speculation they could provide “companionship”.

But writing in BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health, medics said there was no evidence to back up such claims - nor to support speculation they could stop sex crimes.

Dr Chantal Cox-George at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Professor Susan Bewley, Women's Health Academic Centre, King's College London, trawled the research base on sexbots.

While they found much debate about their merits and risks, they said they could find no research at all on their health implications.