The cost of prescription medicines dispensed in the community fell between 2017 and 2018 in England according to official figures.

NHS Digital revealed that £8.8 billion worth of prescriptions were dispensed last year compared with £9.2 billion the year before, a drop of 3.7%.

There was a 2.9 million increase in the number of prescription items dispensed over the same period.

NHS Digital also revealed that 70.9 million prescriptions for antidepressants were dispensed last year and there was an increase in the number of drugs used to treat anxiety and depression.

Scotland saw 6.6 million items dispensed in 2017-18 compared with 3.8 million items in 2007-08. In Wales there was a 168% rise in items dispensed to 5.6 million between 2002 and 2017 while in Northern Ireland, 3.1 million prescriptions were dispensed in 2017-18 compared with 2.4 million in 2013-14.