Lambeth Council in south London is believed to be the first authority in the country to crack down on the lethal but legal high laughing gas.

The council is targeting the substance nitrous oxide, also known as hippie crack, by banning the use and supply of legal highs in public areas across the whole borough.

Anyone caught breaching the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) could face a fine of up to £1,000.

Councillor Jane Edbrooke, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: "Legal highs are simply not safe - we saw that just days ago with the death of a teenager who had inhaled laughing gas.

"It is our duty to keep our residents safe and this new order should deter people from supplying and using legal highs in the borough.

"The litter and anti-social behaviour associated with certain legal highs has also blighted areas like Vauxhall and Clapham and now we have the power to do something about it."

The death she refers to came in Thamesmead, south-east London, last weekend.

An 18-year-old, named locally Ally Calvert, was taken to hospital after he collapsed in the street but died two hours later.

He is thought to have been drinking alcohol and ingesting nitrous oxide, police say.

At least 17 deaths were caused by the legal high in the UK between 2006 and 2012.

Lambeth Council first started receiving complaints from residents about laughing gas last summer and there have been 57 reports by police regarding legal highs in the borough over the past 12 months, with incidents including robbery, theft, anti-social behaviour and sexual assault.

The new rules come in to force in Lambeth on August 17.

It comes as the government is expected to introduce tough new laws that will make selling nitrous oxide a criminal offence punishable by up to seven years in prison.