Anyone who carries acid could face up to four years in prison or risks a life sentence if they use it to attack someone, under tough new rules.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), against the backdrop of horrifying acid attacks, has issued updated interim guidance, which for the first time explicitly refers to acid or corrosive substances.

Possession of an offensive weapon or threatening a person with an offensive weapon, which each come with a maximum four-year prison term, are among the "most appropriate" charges which can be brought.

A CPS spokesman said the guidance seeks to provide information "on the appropriate handling of cases involving 'acid' attacks".

He added: "This will form part of the wider review of guidance on 'Offensive Weapons, Knives, Bladed and Pointed Articles, and the Offences against the Person Charging Standard' that was already under way."

There has been a string of acid attacks in east London and west Essex in recent months.

In February, 19-year-old Bradley Robinson, from Epping Green, was temporarily blinded when carjackers sprayed a corrosive fluid in his face outside a Loughton petrol station.

Weeks later, partially-disabled boxing legend Michael Watson and his carer, Lennard Ballack, were attacked with a similar substance during an attempted robbery in Chingford.

The following month, a 29-year-old man was found by passers-by writhing in agony in the street after he had acid thrown in his face in Calderon Road, Leyton.

In April, a 43-year-old man from Tunbridge Wells was sprayed in the face with acid during another carjacking, this time in Buckhurst Hill.

In June, healthcare worker Syed Nadeem was attacked with acid and robbed by a masked gang as he walked home from Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone.

Finally, earlier this month, two teenage boys were sprayed in the face with a corrosive substance and beaten in Wanstead High Street after they were confronted by a group of men.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey also told the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee in July there were 455 acid offences recorded in London last year, with 63 per cent being assaults.

He said officers were looking at potential links between London gangs and a recent spike in acid attacks, but cautioned that the evidence was limited.

He said 23% were related to robberies and the rest were criminal damage, while the majority of victims were aged between 15 and 29 and nearly a third were Asian.

Mr Mackey added: "About 80 per cent of the victims and about 82% of the suspects are male, so it's a predominantly male-pattern behaviour.”