Researchers at the University of Leicester have won a £1.9 million grant to carry out one of the largest diabetes prevention programmes in Britain.

The study aims to provide information to the NHS to help reduce the number of people who develop type 2 diabetes in the future.

It will also encourage them to take more exercise.

Professor Kamlesh Khunti, who will be carrying out the study with colleagues, said: "Many cases of type 2 diabetes are preventable through changes to lifestyle, such as increasing physical activity.

"There is very little data on how long-term education programmes can reduce it. We hope to explore how much ongoing support is needed to sustain behaviour change in people at high risk of developing diabetes.

"It is good news for us to be given the grant – in particular for Leicester as a community and for the university."

Prof Khunti, along with Professor Melanie Davies and Dr Tom Yates, from the university's Departments of Health Sciences and Cardiovascular Sciences, will be working with the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council to see if the approach is effective to patients in Leicester and Cambridge.