Men with eating disorders are suffering discrimination because of NHS same sex ward rules, research suggests.

A study of 26 UK hospitals treating the condition found four had stopped admitting male patients entirely, in a bid to comply with Department of Health guidelines.

The rules, drawn up in 2010, say male and female patients should not be housed on the same wards, in a bid to protect patient dignity.

But the new study suggests that men suffering from eating disorders are getting worse access to care, because hospitals are prioritising single sex wards for female patients.

Men make up an estimated 25 per cent of the 1.25 millon people with an eating disorder within the UK.

But on average, male sufferers will wait nearly three times as long female sufferers to be even referred for treatment.

The research, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, also found that nine in ten patients with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia were in favour of mixed sex wards.