Gay men will be allowed to donate blood three months after having sex rather than a year, under equalities reforms announced by the Government.

Transgender people will also be able to choose their legal sex more easily as part of the shake-up announced by Education Secretary Justine Greening.

Fears over infections being passed on through donations from gay men led to an outright ban at the height of the AIDS epidemic, but that was cut to 12 months in 2011.

The new guidelines, which campaign groups have been calling for, are in line with improved NHS testing measures, which can establish whether someone has a blood infection such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C or syphilis within three months.

LGBT rights activists, who want to get rid of the blanket deferral period entirely, have hailed the shift in policy as a major step towards a fair and equal system. Read more via the Independent