When scientists declared that a $35 (£17) anti-aging face cream actually worked, the response was immense. Women stormed the UK High Street stores of popular chemist and retailer Boots, and emptied the shelves of the beauty treatment.

Now Boots is witnessing yet more hysteria after launching a cream that promises to work the same magic on the body. Boots No7 Protect & Perfect Body Serum is designed for use on a much wider area than the original wonder serum, No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum.

The experts claim that the serum will work best on more exposed parts such as the neck and decolletage, including arms and legs.

Steve Barton, Boots’s skincare scientific adviser, who developed the product, says he “whooped with delight” when told about the tests on the face serum.

The cream made it onto BBC2’s flagship science show Horizon in March this year. Initially, the manufacturer was producing around 10,000 bottles a month and had maintained steady sales for three years. After the BBC showing, thousands of women swooped on Boots stores up and down the UK, some waiting outside from dawn to be sure of getting their hands on the serum.

Production at the Boots Nottingham factory doubled to more than 24,000 a day to keep up with demand. Since March 4.15million bottles have been sold — the equivalent to one every four seconds. Boots says it has sold the equivalent of 62 years worth of stock in six months.

If “youth is wasted on the young”, why shouldn’t older women get their share too?