TRADING Standards bosses say they will know the results of medical tests into Viagrex, a pill claimed to rival the impotency drug Viagra, by the end of the week.

The tablet - which The Citizen exclusively revealed was being sold from an adult shop in Corporation Street, Preston - was sent to the Medicines Control Agency for analysis.

If the results show that the pill can't be proven to cure impotency, shops selling the tablet face prosecution under trade description laws.

And even if there is proof that the pills do work, there could still be grounds for action because Viagra, the only registered impotence cure of its kind, is a controlled medicine available only through GPs.

Chief officer Jim Potts said: "Unlike Viagra, Viagrex is not a registered medicine.

"Hopefully, we will see the results by the end of this week and we will have a clearer picture of what is happening.

"We reiterate our advice for people not to take them as we can't be sure of what they are."

The pills, said to have been imported from America, were being sold with a price tag of £30 for two. A shop assistant claimed that the pills had similar effects to the wonder drug Viagra and that they were selling quickly

A second brand of "impotence" tablets have also come to light. The herbal pills, called Vigorex, were given anonymously to Trading Standards officers last week.

They have also been sent to the medicines control agency.

Jim Potts said: "We think these capsules were bought from a mail order advertisement as a big batch, then broken down into smaller numbers to be sold to the public.

"Our worry is that Viagra may open the flood gates for all manner of herbal remedies to be treated as wonder drugs."

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