A NORTH-EAST campaigner who says she now accepts that controversial PIP breast implants are not toxic says it is time for women to “move on” and re-direct their anger at private clinics which put them in.

Gemma Pepper, 30, from Middleton St George, near Darlington, who had PIP breast implants fitted two years ago, was one of only two women campaigners to be invited to the launch of a longawaited NHS report into the scandal.

Mrs Pepper said she and another activist called Catherine Kidd were invited to the Department of Health yesterday and given the opportunity to question the NHS medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh about the report.

The report, by a panel of experts, concluded that ruptured PIP breast implants should not cause any longterm health problems.

It means that about 47,000 British women who have been given the faulty French-made implants should be reassured that if the implants rupture they could cause irritation but will not have any significant lasting effects.

Sir Bruce said the gel used inside the implants are not toxic or cancer-causing.

But the experts warned that the PIP implants are twice as likely to rupture as other brands.

Mrs Pepper said after having the report explained to her in great detail she now accepted that the implants were not toxic.

But after being interviewed for a BBC News website, Mrs Pepper said she had been on the receiving end of “a bit of a backlash” from other women.

“If the experts say to us there is no physical harm then we have got to accept that,” said the mother of two.

“Some women are not happy but I think we have got to the point where they have to move on and direct their anger towards the clinics,” she added.

“I would have loved them to have said we are going to replace everyone’s implants but that is not reality. That is never going to happen. The NHS doesn’t have the funds to do that.”

Mrs Pepper, who runs her own campaigning website, said she was pursuing legal action against the London clinic which fitted her with the implants.

“The clinics gave us a ten to 15-year guarantee, but they are rupturing within five years,” she added.

There was still anger at the authorities that the implants had been given a CE mark which allows them to be sold throughout the European Union, she said.