The European Medicines Agency has warned that women who take certain brands of contraceptive pills, have double the risk of developing potentially life-threatening blood clots.

The risk is linked to tablets including Yasmin, Marvelon and Femodene - when compared with other products.

In the UK, doctors are being warned not to prescribe them to patients with a history of deep vein thrombosis.

The European Medicines Agency, has recommended that the packaging of the pills should be updated to advise users of the potential risk.