World Athletics Championships drugs cheats will be caught - David Howman

David Howman heads the new integrity unit designed to protect athletics

Drugs cheats at this summer's World Athletics Championships "will be found out", says the head of a new unit set up to protect integrity in the sport.

David Howman, who chairs the Athletics Integrity Unit, said he could not guarantee August's event in London would be completely clean.

But he told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast he would "ensure the best possible anti-doping programme is in place".

Howman is also urging athletes to talk to the unit about their concerns.

Several British athletes face losing their world records after European Athletics announced it wants historical records rewritten because of the doping scandal.

Paula Radcliffe, Jonathan Edwards and Colin Jackson are among those whose records are under threat.

The International Olympic Committee has also embarked on a programme of retesting old samples - leading to the disqualification of more than 100 athletes from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

That has led to retrospective medals for Britain's Goldie Sayers, Martyn Rooney and Kelly Sotherton.

Howman, a former director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, acknowledged emotions are running high in the sport.

"We're going to be talking with all those athletes who are angry - we've started that programme already," he said.

"What we are doing in terms of our task is to ensure that the athlete voice is heard and those who do want to come forward to talk to us about any aspect can do that. The first opportunity to do that will be in London."

The World Championships will take place from 4-13 August.