PEOPLE who take Ecstasy are at risk of impairing their long-term memory, according to North-East research.

Scientists said those who also took cannabis faced a "double whammy" of suffering short-term memory loss.

An international survey co-ordinated from Newcastle University found regular Ecstasy users were 23 per cent more likely to report problems with memory than non-users.

Researchers said that until now little had been known about the impact of Ecstasy and other drugs on memory.

Lead researcher Dr Jacqui Rodgers, of Newcastle University, said: "We all know of cases where people have suffered acutely from the use of Ecstasy, such as the teenager Leah Betts, but little is known about the more subtle effects on the increasing number of regular users worldwide."

The study found that those who regularly took Ecstasy were more likely to suffer from long-term memory difficulties.

Those who regularly used cannabis reported up to 20 per cent more memory problems than non-users - their short-term memory was mainly affected.

The report went on to say because Ecstasy users were more likely to use other drugs including cannabis, they were vulnerable to memory afflictions in later life.

Hundreds of drug users and non-users took part in the web-based survey, which questioned people from the UK, across Europe, the US, and Australia.

It was undertaken by researchers from the universities of Newcastle, Northumbria, Westminster, Teesside and East London.

The research team based their findings on responses from 763 participants.

They found the group of typical users had long-term memory 14 per cent worse than the 480 people who had never taken Ecstasy and 23 per cent worse than the 242 non-drug users.

In addition, this group made 21 per cent more errors than non-Ecstasy users and 29 per cent more mistakes than people who did not take drugs at all.