Scientists have discovered natural honey can heal burns more quickly than standard gauze and film dressings.

The findings - pooled from 19 medical trials involving more than 2,500 patients - show the breakfast favourite really does speed up the healing process of mild to moderate burns.

Honey has been used to treat wounds since ancient times.

How it works is unclear, but it appears to fight infection and help the body remove dead tissue.

But although the sweet stuff helped burns, the researchers could find no reliable evidence that it aided recovery from grazes, lacerations, surgical wounds or leg ulcers.

Chief researcher, Dr Andrew Jull, from the University of Auckland, said: “Health services should invest in treatments that have been shown to work.

“But we will keep monitoring new research to try and establish the effect of honey.”

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