A dance drug which caused the death of a medical student will be banned by the end of the year, Home Secretary Alan Johnson has announced.

Hester Stewart, 21, died after taking GBL at a party in Brighton, which is used by clubbers as a substitute for banned drug GHB, known as 'liquid ecstasy'.

GBL - gamma-butyrolactone - will be placed in Class C, meaning users could be punished with a two-year jail term and dealers could receive up to 14 years imprisonment.

Click on play below to view an interview with Interview with Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope

But Ms Stewart's mother Maryon, of Warren Road, Brighton, said it should be placed in Class A alongside heroin and ecstasy.

She also criticised delays in bringing in the ban, warning it could mean more deaths.

She said: "I think GBL is every bit as dangerous as heroin and ecstasy, if not more so.

"Because it's lethal when combined with alcohol it should be a Class A drug.

"We need to review the whole system because right now our kids are incredibly vulnerable and we have let them become so."

She said she had hoped the ban could have been brought in before the start of the summer recess.

Parliament cannot start considering the matter until October 12, when MPs return from their summer break.

GBL will be classified along with two other 'legal highs', cannabis substitute Spice and BZP, an amphetamine replacement, the Home Office said.

A campaign targeting students and clubbers warning of the dangers of legal highs will be launched to coincide with the start of the university term.

Mr Johnson said: "There is a perception that many of the so-called legal highs are harmless. However in some cases people can be ingesting dangerous industrial fluids or smoking chemicals that can be even more harmful than cannabis.”

Mrs Stewart said she was encouraged that steps were being taken against legal highs and pledged her support for the campaign.