Scientists said they are one step closer to curing nut allergies after a group of children with severe peanut allergies had their conditions successfully treated.

The world's first successful treatment for the potentially fatal disorder was conducted by Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge and the children were able to eat nuts without suffering from any adverse reaction for the first time achieved by modifying an allergy by desensitising the sufferer.

Four children who suffered sever peanut allergies were given tiny doses of peanut flour everyday starting with 5mg mixed into yoghurt. Over a six month period this was gradually increased every two weeks till the children were able to eat up to 12 nuts a day.

These children suffered sever peanut allergies and earlier even if they accidentally ate even a trace amount of peanut they risked suffering anaphylactic shock or even death. The study is published in the journal Allergy. A larger study by Addenbrooke's, involved 20 children aged 7 to 17, has shown similar results.

Pamela Ewan, a consultant allergist and lead researcher said, "Until now there has been no treatment that has modified the disease. There has only been effective management of the problems.

"We do not like to talk of cures, but that is what we are aiming for. If you can switch off the allergy, you can claim you have cured the person." The researchers felt the reason their research was successful unlike previous attempts was the difference that they used small doses of peanut flour which was eaten instead of the customary peanut oil or extract which was injected in.

Dr Andy Clark, who led the research said, "Every time people with a peanut allergy eat something, they're frightened that it might kill them. Our motivation was to find a treatment that would change that and give them the confidence to eat what they like. It's all about quality of life.

"Peanut allergy is common - it affects 1 in 50 young people in the UK - and unlike other childhood food allergies like cow's milk, it rarely goes away. For all our participants, a reaction could lead to life-threatening anaphylactic shock - but now we've got them to a point where they can safely eat at least 10 whole peanuts. It's not a permanent cure, but as long as they go on taking a daily dose they should maintain their tolerance."

Dr John Collard, clinical director of the charity Allergy UK said, "Peanut allergy ruins lives. This research does have the potential to have a massive impact on changing people's lives because they wouldn't have to worry about accidentally eating trace amounts of peanuts."

He added that how long the effect lasts and whether these children will need to eat peanuts every day for the rest of their lives in order to keep the allergy at bay or whether after a period of time they could stop the treatment and still not have a reaction to the nuts is not clear.

Clark said, "If they were to stop there is some evidence that tolerance would be lost and they may have a reaction." He added that after three or four years, the body may have adjusted and there could be a more "permanent cure" to the allergy.

The Addenbrooke's study was carried out in the hospital's Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, and was sponsored by the Evelyn Trust, a Cambridge charity that supports medical research.