A new superbug that is resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics has been found in UK hospitals, scientists warned today.

They say it has travelled back to Britain in patients who went to India or Pakistan for medical procedures such as cosmetic surgery.

In Shropshire, a leading expert today urged the public to play their part in helping to prevent the spread of the infection, by following basic hygiene measures such as hand washing.

The county’s main hospitals are on alert as they always are when a new bug is discovered. But the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has one of the best infection control records in the country, leading the way in tackling MRSA.

A new gene known as NDM-1 allows bacteria to be highly resistant to almost all antibiotics and it has spread in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

NDM-1 can exist inside different bacteria, such as E.coli, and it makes them resistant to one of the most powerful groups of antibiotics – carbapenems.

These are generally reserved for use in emergencies and to combat hard-to-treat infections caused by other multi-resistant bacteria.

“The potential of NDM-1 to be a worldwide public health problem is great, and co-ordinated international surveillance is needed,” Timothy Walsh, of Cardiff University, and colleagues have written in an article in The Lancet.

They said: “India also provides cosmetic surgery for other Europeans and Americans, and it is likely NDM-1 will spread worldwide.”

Study co-author Dr David Livermore, director of antibiotic resistance monitoring at the Health Protection Agency, said: “The findings of this paper show that resistance to one of the major groups of antibiotics, the carbapenems, is widespread in India.

“This is important because carbapenems were often the last ‘good’ antibiotics active against bacteria that already were resistant to more standard drugs.

“We have now also identified bacteria with this type of resistance in around 50 patients in the . Most, not all, had previously travelled to the Indian subcontinent, and many had received hospital treatment there.

“International travel gives a great potential for spread of resistant bacteria between countries.”

Professor Rod Thompson, director of public health for Shropshire County Primary Care Trust, said that on one level the emergence of NDM-1 was “a concern” but good infection control measures such as hand washing could help prevent its spread.