A facility will be established in Glasgow for users to take illegal drugs, the Insider reported.

The approval for the UK’s first drug consumption room came on Wednesday.

The facility investment will amount to £2.3 million and the aim is to allow users to take their drugs in a clean environment under medical supervision.

The Glasgow City Integration Joint Board said: “There is overwhelming international evidence which demonstrates that safer drug consumption facilities can improve the health, wellbeing and recovery of people who use the facility and reduce the negative impact that public injecting has on local communities and businesses.”

The legality of the pilot facility has been discussed between Scottish and central UK governments for years.

The idea was first brought forward in 2006 during an HIV outbreak in Glasgow.

A study after the outbreak found there were approximately 400 to 500 people injecting drugs in public places in Glasgow city centre on a regular basis.

“Injecting in public spaces increases the risk of infection and other drug-related harms, and also causes a risk to the public from discarded injecting equipment and needles,” said The Glasgow City Integration Joint Board.

“I welcome the news,” said Scotland’s drug and alcohol policy minister Elena Whitham.

“We know this is not a silver bullet. But we know from evidence from more than 100 facilities worldwide that safer drug consumption facilities work,” she added.