ME can be debilitating

In total 12 centres will be set up around the country, using �8.5m announced by the government last year.

In addition, 28 support teams will provide specialist rehab programmes and home care services.

The cause of CFS remains a mystery, but it can be so severe that sufferers are bed-bound.

New centres Newcastle Leeds Liverpool Manchester Sheffield Birmingham East Midlands East Anglia North London Sutton, Surrey Bath/Bristol Cornwall/Devon

The new centres will offer specialist assessment, diagnosis and advice on treating the condition.

They will also support research into chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME, and help to raise awareness of the condition among health professionals.

Health Minister Stephen Ladyman said: "CFS/ME is a debilitating and distressing condition that affects people of all ages.

"As the causes are still not fully understood, it is also a condition that poses a challenge to medicine and the NHS.

"These new centres and local teams mean that we can start developing focused, local services that will make a real difference to people's lives.

"The support, empathy and understanding of health professionals is an important factor in the care of people with this condition.

The education and training provided by the centres will be invaluable in providing health professionals with the information they need to help their patients."

Chris Clark, chief executive of the charity Action for ME welcomed the initiative.

He said: "People with CFS/ME not only know that their illness has been recognised, but that they can now hope for the support, knowledge and understanding that its severity merits.

"We look forward to the start of the centres and to the local teams that will follow. They will bring much needed professional advice and support to those in the front line of NHS care."

CFS/ME is thought to cost the UK around �3.6 bn a year in medical treatments, lost income and benefit payments - around �15,000 for each person with the condition.

Around 240,000 people in the UK are thought to have CFS/ME.