Disabled people have revealed that their lives have improved, six months into the world's first cannabis drug trials, based at Oxford University.

Researchers are testing the class B drug on 90 multiple sclerosis sufferers to discover whether it can stamp out their symptoms.

In a BBC Panorama programme on Sunday, Tyrone Castle, of Witney, said that since taking cannabis he relied on less help from carers.

Mr Castle used to need two carers, who took more than an hour to get him out of bed using a winch every morning, because of his condition.

Before the trials, he said: "I feel as if I've been ten rounds with Mike Tyson. I'd like to be able to sleep, sit, feed myself properly, hold a pen and sign my name."

But part-way through the trials, in which Mr Castle took cannabis in spray form under his tongue, his muscular stiffness had reduced and he now only needs one carer to help with his morning routine.

A second MS sufferer, Jo Clayton-Jones, of Wantage, had only a little movement in her arms, head and neck, because of the disease.

She and her husband, Roger, the chaplain at St Mary's School, described the effects of cannabis as "miraculous".

The Panorama programme, Cannabis From The Chemist, documented the lives of four people taking part in the trials, which are being led by Dr Philip Robson, an Oxford University senior research Fellow, and started in May.

The £12m study is being co-ordinated at the Rivermead Centre, Abingdon Road, Oxford, and funded by G W Pharmaceuticals, the only company licensed to grow cannabis in the UK.

Smaller trials have already been done and it is already thought that cannabis could help prevent spasm attacks and bladder problems.