DO-IT-YOURSELF kits for HIV testing are dangerous and could be misleading, according to health experts.

The kits are being offered for sale over the Internet, promising to provide an accurate result in two minutes.

World Health Diagnostics, which supplies them, also claims it can provide home tests for breast and prostate cancer and for hepatitis C.

But experts have condemned the trade and believe using home-tests could cause untold damage.

Chris Faldon, senior health advisor at the sexual health GUM clinic in Newcastle, said the kits could create serious problems for their users.

He said: "It is not just about the scientific test. It is the whole issue of what happens if it is positive.

"Using home tests misses out on all the pre-test counselling and discussion and, if you don't think it through carefully, it can cause irreversible psychological damage."

He said there were also doubt about the accuracy of home testing, which could affect people who falsely test positive or negative.

He said: "It has immense implications and we know that suicide is a factor in people who test positive and haven't had adequate counselling."

Tests at GUM clinics are free and confidential and the results are often available the next day, he said.

World Health Diagnostics claims the kits, which cost $35 - about £24 - have been approved by the Canadian government and are being tested by the US Food and Drug Agency.

The kits offering tests for breast and prostate cancer involve mixing a few drops of blood with a solution.

A spokesman for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund said it would be concerned if anyone relied on the test to get a diagnosis.

He said: "We would be quite cautious about this. The problem with a lot of diagnostic techniques is they can give false positives or false negatives.

"The point of going through a doctor or a hospital is that the experts can run a series of tests and can narrow down whether there is a problem.

"We are worried that these tests don't offer the same support and competence that a doctor or a hospital can."

A Department of Health spokeswoman said that it was illegal to supply HIV home-testing kits in Britain.