Everyone in the UK should consider taking vitamin D supplements to counter the lack of sunshine government experts are proposing.

The draft Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition guidelines suggest, from the age of one, 10 microgram vitamin D pills be taken to ensure people get enough.

Current advice is that only at-risk groups, such as pregnant women, under-fives and over 65s, should take supplements.

But as there is no easy way of assessing who is not getting enough vitamin D, the proposal is that everyone should take a supplementary dose.

The advice comes after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which advises the NHS on treatments, has already suggested vitamin D should be given more widely to counter a hidden epidemic of deficiency.

Official estimates suggest one in five adults and one in six children in England may have low levels and as a result are at risk of developing rickets or brittle bones.

People get most of their vitamin D from the action of sunlight on their skin, but the low level of sunlight during winter months means people in the UK are especially at risk.

The NICE guidelines called for more free supplements and for supermarkets to sell low-cost tablets.