A fresh criminal investigation has been launched over Gosport War Memorial Hospital where hundreds of patients died after being given powerful painkillers.

More than 450 people died prematurely at Gosport War Memorial Hospital hospital between 1987 and 2001, after they were given “dangerous” levels of painkillers.

Families of the victims have campaigned for three decades in the hope an investigation might lead to criminal charges.

This is the fourth such investigation into the deaths.

"The families of those affected by the events at Gosport War Memorial Hospital are at the heart of everything we do, and I hope the news that we will now be carrying out a full investigation is of some comfort to them,” announced Assistant Chief Constable Nick Downing, head of serious crime at Kent and Essex Police.

"This investigation is not about numbers, it is about people - specifically those who died at the hospital and the loved ones they have left behind.

"There have been three previous police investigations into deaths at the hospital. It was therefore important for us to carry out an initial assessment of the materials obtained by the Gosport Independent Panel to establish if it contained sufficient new information that has not already been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service,” he added.

The Gosport Independent Panel report published in June 2018 said the quality of previous police investigations had been "consistently poor".

It found that here had been an "institutionalised regime" of prescribing opioids “without medical justification” at the hospital, despite whistleblowers and families raising concerns between 1991 and 1992.

Dr Jane Barton, who oversaw medication on hospital wards, was deemed responsible for the reckless “practice of prescribing" at the wards over a 12-year period.

Dubbed “Dr Opiate”, Barton, 71, now retired, has always denied any wrongdoing.

Along with confirmed fatalities, the report concluded that another 200 patients "probably" had their lives cut short, when missing records are taken into account.

One grieving relative, Maggie Cheetham, told the BBC she wanted "closure" for her aunt Ethel Thurston who died in 1999 aged 78 after being admitted to the hospital following a fall.

"All she needed was some tender loving care - she did not deserve to die," said Ms Cheetham.

"I want to know why she was given the cocktail of drugs, and I want someone held to account for killing her."

Assistant Chief Constable Nick Downing said: "Now that we have launched a full investigation we will be arranging to meet with the families on a one-to-one basis and invite them to give statements on their own experiences with the hospital, as it is their accounts about the loss of their loved ones that will help put the medical assessments we have into context.

"This is a highly complex and emotive case that some family members have been living with for more than 30 years, and I would like to thank them for their continuing patience and understanding during this process."