TRIALS are beginning this week for a coffee-based slimming product which has taken Scandinavia by storm.

CoffeeSlender was first launched in Norway in 2004 and is now Scandinavia's fastest selling slimming product according to its UK vendor Energix Ventures.

Martin Clark, a former Marlow resident, has been given the exclusive rights to sell CoffeeSlender in the UK.

It is being offered free to weight-loss volunteers during an eight week trial at All Saints' church hall, The Causeway, Marlow starting at 6.45pm on Wednesday.

It will also be available to sample at Healthy Stuff food shop in Liston Court between 10am until noon tomorrow.

The drink contains a coffee derivative called Svetol that its manufacturers claim has helped people to lose weight during clinical trials in Norway, by reducing the amount of sugar the body absorbs from the food we eat.

But Diabetes UK has advised caution.

Phaedra Neal, a spokesman for Diabetes UK, said: "With reference to CoffeeSlender, Diabetes UK has not seen sufficient, consistent evidence to show that coffee can aid weight loss or that it would reduce glucose absorption from carbohydrates in food."

Martin Clark told the Free Press: "We are not making any medical claims, this is simply a food product which some studies have shown may have helped people to lose weight.

"It has no more caffeine than a normal cup of coffee, but it helps to reduce the amount of glucose in your blood after eating.

"I am not a doctor or a scientist. But on face value it should help people with diabetes and we have had a lot of calls from people with diabetes, who we are referring to their GP."