A doctor who seduced, harassed and took money from an emotionally fragile patient was struck off the medical register.

During his three-year affair, which began in December 1999, married father-of-one Mardan Mahmod also prescribed drugs for his lover which he took himself.

In finding him guilty of serious professional misconduct, the General Medical Council's fitness to practise panel in London declared that Dr Mahmod had indulged in "blatant departures" from professional standards.

He struck up the sexual relationship with the woman, identified as Mrs A, while treating her for a blood condition at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. She was going through a divorce and during a consultation he asked her if she had a room to rent.

Panel chairman John Shaw said: "Dr Mahmod initiated a personal, emotional and sexual relationship with a potentially vulnerable patient who was recently separated and who was also experiencing financial difficulties."

He borrowed £8,000 from his lover saying he wanted to buy two cars. Fearing that he would leave her, she handed over the money.

But when he only repaid £3,600 of it she launched a County Court case against him in 2004 to get the rest back. Dr Mahmod, of Croydon, Surrey, denies it was a loan.

Between December 1999 and November 2002 Dr Mahmod wrote his lover a prescription for the potentially addictive drug Temazepam - but then went on to take some of it himself.

He did not bother to explain properly to her or tell her GP why he was prescribing the medication and did not carry out a proper assessment, the panel found.

No notes of the prescriptions were made in the hospital.

He also prescribed medication for himself on an NHS prescription form and sent Mrs A to get it dispensed for him.

During the affair Dr Mahmod divided his time between his lover's flat, his accommodation at the hospital and the home he shared with his wife and daughter. He also found time to run a dry cleaning business.