A ban on women serving in close combat roles in the British military has been lifted by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Women can currently serve on the front line, but not where the primary aim is to "close with and kill the enemy" - ruling them out of serving in the infantry or armoured corps.

The PM confirmed the move at a Nato summit in Warsaw, Poland.

It follows a government review which recommended the ban should be lifted.

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said the opening of roles for women in close combat would be phased, initially with positions in cavalry and armoured units and then to the infantry.

He said some of the concern over the issue had centred on whether women had the physical capability to withstand the demands on their body that some of the roles will require.

There are about 7,000 women in British Army currently, but, according to research by the British Army, only about 5% would pass the physical tests required. One of the easier tests for the infantry, for example, involves recruits completing an eight-mile march in under two hours while carrying a backpack weighing 55lbs (25kg).

'Damaging health'

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has previously said he hoped to "open up combat roles to women" in 2016, saying roles "should be determined by ability and not gender".

Mr Fallon ordered an 18-month review of training procedures and the physical demands of fighting to ensure the change can be made without damaging female soldiers' health.

Speaking in December last year, Mr Cameron said: "The Defence Secretary [Michael Fallon] and I are united in wanting to see all roles in our armed forces opened up to women in 2016.

"We've already lifted a number of barriers in our armed forces with the introduction of female submariners and women reaching the highest ranks in all services. We should finish the job next year and open up ground combat roles to women."

'Paid for in blood'

Ministers first signalled an intention to allow women into such roles in 2014 when a government-commissioned report on the ban called for more research to assess the physical demands involved.

And in December last year the US announced that all combat roles in its military would be opened to women.

But proposals to open up roles to women has attracted criticism in the past.

In April former Army chief Colonel Richard Kemp said introducing women into such roles would be a "foolish move" that would be "paid for in blood".

Writing in the Telegraph, Col Kemp, who led the British forces in Afghanistan in 2003, argued: "This foolish move will reduce the capability of the infantry, undermine our national defences and put lives in danger."

He claimed only "a very small number" of women wanted to join the infantry, and that only "a fraction" of those would have the physical capability to do so.