Steroids are the only drug in the UK to have seen a four-fold increase in the past year, official data shows, fuelled by a rise in muscle-conscious young men.

The vast majority of drugs have declined in usage compared to last year, with only a handful increasing by a small fraction, according to the most recent Crime Survey, published by the Home Office.

Use of anabolic steroids saw the biggest increase of all among 16-24 year-olds, from 0.1 per cent of the population to 0.4 per cent, meaning that an extra 19,000 young people have taken the drug in the past year.