Trials have shown that many volunteers saw symptoms of disrupted breathing and broken sleep almost halved after taking the drug treatment.

The tablet is thought to work by strengthening muscles in the airways to stop the tissue from collapsing and blocking the flow of air, the main cause of the snoring condition sleep apnoea.

A recent US trial of the pill - known as AD109 - saw 211 people with sleep apnoea given either the drug or dummy tablets to take for four weeks while their sleep was monitored.

The results showed that overall symptoms had dropped by more than half in 44 per cent of those who took the AD109 pill.

Professor Jaydip Ray, a sleep apnoea expert at Sheffield University, commented on the findings: "A tablet might revolutionise our management of this condition but we need to see results from larger trials."

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