Scientists hope they can save thousands of babies from being born prematurely by tricking muscles in their mothers' wombs.

Researchers at Newcastle University believe laboratory tests using an anti-fungal antibiotic known as Trichostatin A (TSA) show enough potential for clinical trials using the drug which has also been used by cancer patients.

In Britain alone around 60,000 births, one in 10, are premature, the highest rate in Europe, while the problem is worse in the developing world. Many babies born early need extensive support in the first few months of life and can suffer health problems throughout their lives.

But the Newcastle team says that TSA can help change the chemical process that makes some women begin contractions and labour too early. The work so far has involved testing TSA on cells from women who have undergone caesarean sections.

Research leader Nick Europe-Finner said: "We now need to take the research a step further and test it in a clinical setting, although funding for this would be required."

The work so far, funded by the charity Action Medical Research, is published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.