The war in Iraq could end up costing more than World War Two concludes a major new study by a top international economist.

In a book to be published tomorrow Nobel prize winning Professor Joseph Stiglitz has found that the Iraq war has now cost a staggering one and a half trillion pounds.

The long-term hidden costs which include such items as medical care and pensions for wounded soldiers mean that it will eventually surpass the two and a half trillion pound cost of the Second World War.