Boots is set to offer a slimming jab withdrawal programme in a bid to stop patients piling the weight back on when treatment ends.

Around 2.5million Britons are thought to be having weight-loss injections such as Mounjaro and Ozempic.

But research has long suggested that those who come off the jabs abruptly after hitting their target will put on the pounds again in the form of fat rather than muscle.

In August, new guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence urged the NHS to help people for at least a year with 'structured advice and follow-up support' after they stop the injections. 

But the vast majority are paying for them privately, so will not be eligible for NHS support after they have finished their treatment.

Now, Boots Online Doctor has launched its own 12-month programme to combat the issue, the first of its kind.

Free for those who have used the chemist chain's weight-loss service for at least six months, patients will receive 'unlimited' support from clinicians via a secure message platform.

Additional personalised online resources will also be available, including exercise videos and sugggested changes to patients' daily routines as well as to their eating and shopping habits. 

Free webinars – internet seminars – and podcast episodes will also give advice.

At the end of the year, patients can continue to access all supportive content free of charge. 

Dr Sam Wellappili, of the Boots Online Doctor Weight Loss Treatment Service, said: 'Not everyone who uses weight loss medicines or are considering this route want to stay on them forever. 

'But many worry they'll put weight back on as soon as they stop.

'We know coming off weight loss treatment suddenly, without support, can make it much harder to maintain results, which is why we have designed a programme to give patients the guidance and encouragement they need to help achieve lasting, long-term success.'

Free weigh-ins and advice are also available in store.

It comes as experts have warned the NHS rollout of weight loss jabs has already created a 'two-tier system'.

A report published in May by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change noted that obesity rates are about 15 per cent higher in the most deprived areas compared to the wealthiest.

Yet because NHS access is limited and private jabs cost hundreds of pounds a month, it is largely the better-off who are getting them.

Like any medication, the jabs can cause side effects that vary in both frequency and severity. 

Reported problems include nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, fatigue, stomach pain, headaches and dizziness.

Weight-related illness costs the economy £74billion a year, with people who are overweight at increased risk of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Two in three Britons are classed as overweight or obese and NHS figures show people now weigh about a stone more than 30 years ago.