A sugar tax is to be imposed in hospital shops, cafés and vending machines across England.

Higher prices for sugary drinks and snacks would hopefully discourage staff, patients and visitors from buying them, NHS chief executive Simon Stevens told The Guardian.

The tax will be extended to all acute, mental health and community services hospitals by 2020 and every local health centre.

The move will make the NHS the first public body in the UK to bring in a sugar tax, a measure which the UK government has still not ruled out.

It comes as the government puts the finishing touches on its soon-to-be published childhood obesity strategy.

Stevens also urged ministers to force manufacturers to reduce sugar in their products.