Hot drinks probably cause cancer and they should always be left for a few minutes to lower the temperature, or cooled down with milk to avoid disease, the World Health Organisation has warned.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the WHO, said very hot drinks of 65C and over double the risk of developing cancer of the oesophagus.

However the panel found there was no evidence that coffee or tea causes cancer and said any link was because of the hot temperature of the drink.