An East Sussex doctor claimed he could cure Aids and cancer by changing a patient's diet and ME by making a potion from their own blood, a tribunal has been told.

Dr Michael Kirkham made a series of outrageous boasts about his findings, the General Medical Council's professional conduct committee heard.

He said his nutrition supplements could stop tumours from growing and would help sufferers of arthritis and cystic fibrosis.

But in reality some of his "medication" bordered on dangerous and could have caused kidney failure, the committee was told.

Experts branded Dr Kirkham's research worthless, with one saying: "He does not know what he is talking about."

It was alleged that the firm he worked for deliberately preyed on vulnerable people with the £99-a-time remedies.

Dr Kirkham, of Eversfield Place, St Leonards, who was not at the hearing, has since retired. He denies serious professional misconduct.

The committee heard he was a medical consultant to a company called Signalysis in 1994, peddling a procedure called Spagyrik therapy.

On professional leaflets Dr Kirkham explained a technique where the company could produce a medication able to cure the debilitating illness ME using samples of blood and urine.

But Lynn Griffin, for the GMC, said: "It is our submission that this particular therapy could provide false and dangerous reassurance to patients with such conditions."

The hearing continues.