Ministers have ordered a landmark review of prescription drug addiction, amid concern over the rising number of women becoming hooked on painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants.

NHS figures show one in eleven adults prescribed potentially addictive drugs in the past year - with a 50 per cent rise in prescribing levels over 15 years.

Ministers said decisive action was needed to stop the problem reaching the scale now seen across the United States.

Two thirds of those on “dependence forming medicines” are female, and typically in their 50s and 60s, national research shows.

The data shows a 60 per cent rise in the amount of time patients are staying on opiate-based painkillers, which are supposed to be prescribed for short periods.