Baby bottle manufacturers are being urged to remove from their products a potentially dangerous chemical which will be outlawed from next June.

The European Commission ban, backed by EU food safety experts, will remove Bisphenol A, an endocrine disrupter. The decision follows months of talks with manufacturers, EU governments and experts.

The substance is used in many clear hard plastics, but evidence has been growing that it can interfere with infant development and can be passed on to babies when they drink from the bottles.

Governments will have to ban these bottles containing the toxic chemical, starting from March the first next year, with a complete ban on their marketing or import into the bloc from the beginning of June.