Cocaine can be delivered quicker in England than a takeaway pizza, a drugs survey has found.

More than a third of a thousand cocaine users surveyed in England said they could get the drug delivered within half an hour.

Some 36.8 per cent of people surveyed in England said they could get cocaine within 30 minutes, placing it fifth in the world rankings.

Across the world, 30.3 per cent of 15,000 cocaine users questioned for the 2018 Global Drug Survey said they would be able to get their hands on the drug within half an hour.

This is compared with 16.5 per cent who said they could get a pizza delivered in that time.

The report said dealers were competing for customers not only through product quality but through speed of delivery, with easy access and higher purity "likely to lead to escalating use and harms among people".

It said: "With many cities covered with CCTV cameras, traditional street dealing is becoming less attractive to many suppliers and consumers.

"On the other hand, darknet markets allow drugs to be delivered through your letterbox and the rise of encrypted social media platforms makes ordering relatively safe.

"Thus, it's not surprising that the next customer service upgrade was going to be the growth of sophisticated and rapid drug delivery services in many of our big cities."

The report surveyed 130,000 drug users across 44 countries, including more than 5,000 in the UK, about recreational drug use and its impact on health.

Drug users in England were found to consume the second highest amount of cocaine in a single session (0.7g).