The resignation of Home Office adviser Dr Polly Taylor has disrupted the government's plan to ban the dance drug mephedrone.

Dr Taylor resigned from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) yesterday after stating that "Ministers are failing to take scientific advice".

Her resignation raised major concerns over whether enforcing a ban on mephedrone, also known as 'Miaow Miaow' can be brought in and sustained before the general election.

In order to ban the drug, ministers must be provided with formal advice. The council is unable to provide this until a new Home Office adviser is brought in.

The ACMD met this morning to discuss the resignation before opening its public meeting.

Council chairman Les Iverson said that the committee was "saddened and disappointed" by Dr Taylor's resignation. He also stated that a replacement will be appointed "as soon as possible".

Home secretary Alan Johnson is scheduled to receive the council's plans this afternoon, despite claims from his critics that he is "presiding over chaos".

Liberal Democrat science spokesman Dr Evan Harris hit out at the government by claiming they had "shot themselves in the foot".

He added: "They were warned repeatedly by me and major scientific organisations that, unless they pledged to allow their unpaid independent scientists the freedom and independence to give their advice without fear of reprisal by politicians, they would face more resignations."  This follows on from the dismissal of the chairman of ACMD, Professor David Nutt, after a similar problem relating to disagreements over scientific advice.

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling suggested: "Alan Johnson has had months to sort out the council and to get it back into a position where it can do its job properly.

"If he has failed to do so, and as a result made it impossible to deal with drugs like mephedrone, then it's an enormous and unacceptable failure."

Major concerns were raised over the rapid increase of mephedrone users in recent weeks, following a series of deaths.

According to figures reported by the ACMD, there have been 18 reported deaths in England and seven in Scotland as a result of people taking mephedrone or similar drugs.