A doctor who helped 50 people to kill themselves will face no criminal charges.

Retired GP Dr Michael Irwin was arrested after helping Raymond Cutkelvin, 58, of Hackney, north London, end his life at the Dignitas suicide clinic in Switzerland.

Dr Irwin, of Cromwell Road Hove, has been told today that the Crown Prosecution Service had dropped the case against him.

Dr Irwin was nicknamed Dr Death after saying he gave 50 of his former patients drugs to help them kill themselves.

Euthanasia campaigner Dr Irwin said he had "mixed feelings" about not being charged.

He said: "It is nice after being on bail for 11 months for the matter to be resolved in this manner.

"On the other hand, I want to keep on talking about the situation where we have a two-tier system in this country.

"If you have got money and are terminally ill, you can go to Switzerland for assisted suicide.

"But if you have not got money, you are stuck here and possibilities and outcomes remain uncertain.

"The law should be changed to make it possible to be fair, for it to be out in the open and transparent."