A cure for baldness could be on the horizon after British scientists discovered that an osteoporosis drug stimulates hair growth three times quicker than other drugs.

Around four in 10 men suffer male pattern baldness by the age of 45 and two thirds by the age of 60.

At the moment only two drugs, minoxidil and finasteride, are available for the treatment of male pattern baldness (androgenetic alopecia) - the classic type of receding hair loss in men.

But both have side effects and often produce disappointing results. The only other option open to patients losing their hair is transplantation surgery.

To find a new treatment, scientists at Manchester University first studied a cancer drug called CsA, which has the embarrassing side-effect of substantial unwanted hair growth.

They discovered the hair growth happens because the drug reduces the activity of a protein called SFRP1, which prevents the growth of hair follicles.

Although CsA itself is not suitable as a baldness treatment because of its extreme side-effects, scientists found that a drug previously designed to treat osteoporosis, called WAY-316606, was even better at targeting the hair-suppressing protein.