A revolutionary bionic hand has been developed that "sees" objects and instantly decides what grip to adopt.

The device, trialled at the University of Newcastle, could lead to a new generation of prosthetic limbs giving the wearer the ability to reach for objects without thinking, scientists have said.

A camera fitted to the hand rapidly takes a picture of the object in front it, feeding back the information to its "brain".

The new technology - based on artificial intelligence - enables the hand to automatically assesses an object's shape and size "within milliseconds", and decides whether to adopt a light pinch or a firm grip.

Dr Kianoush Nazarpour, a senior lecturer in biomedical engineering at the university, said: "Responsiveness has been one of the main barriers to artificial limbs.

"For many amputees the reference point is their healthy arm or leg so prosthetics seem slow and cumbersome in comparison.

"Now, for the first time in a century, we have developed an 'intuitive' hand that can react without thinking."

Around 600 people in the UK suffer the loss of upper limbs each year, while in the US, there are 500,000 new upper limb amputees.

Amputee athlete Doug McIntosh, 56, was among the first to try out the new "seeing hand", and described the experience as "mind boggling".

The Scottish father-of-three from Aberdeen lost his right hand and forearm to cancer in 1997 and has previously used prosthesis that could only be opened, closed or rotated.

He said: "It's quite emotional when the thing comes to life.

"It was almost like a flashback to the last night before I had my amputation, but it was emotional in a good sense."

He said his wife, Diane, who watched the trials, was "quite amazed."