The government's chief drugs adviser has strongly indicated the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) will recommend mephedrone be banned.

Professor Les Iversen said he expected the panel would make a recommendation to the home secretary next Monday.

He said he believed mephedrone was "harmful" and hinted that it should be categorised as a Class B drug.

Mr Iverson was giving evidence to MPs after the deaths of at least two people who took mephedrone.

'Amphetamine'

The drug is known by various names, including "M-Cat", "MC", "mieow", "meow", "4MMC" or simply plant fertiliser.

It is usually a white or yellowish powder, which is snorted, but it can also be obtained in pills and capsules. It is marketed as a plant food.

The professor told the Home Affairs Select Committee said it was his personal view as a pharmacologist that mephedrone and other related drugs were "amphetamines by another name".

Amphetamines are currently classified as Class B drugs and possession can carry a jail term of up to five years or an unlimited fine or even both.

He also said that if the ACMD does recommend a ban it will recommend "a generic scope that will cover all derivatives of mephedrone - either those made now or those that could be made in the future."