A WOMAN who claims surgery to remove excess skin from her inner eyelids was botched has launched an online petition calling for laws affecting cosmetic surgery procedures to be more stringent.

Dawn Knight, 49, from Stanley, was worried she would go blind after undergoing the £3,500 eye lift operation five years ago.

The mother-of-two, who is now unable to close her eyes and must use drops every two hours to stop them drying out, was operated on by an uninsured cosmetic practitioner in Birmingham.

She said: “There is and has long been a culture within some sectors of the cosmetic surgery industry, both with practitioners and directors within the UK, that performing operations and surgical interventions, uninsured or under-insured is acceptable.

“This culture leaves patients unknowingly at a massive risk whilst under the knife. When things go wrong, which they frequently do, some of these companies see it as fine to use the NHS as a backup for their failings when a lack of insurance means their patients have no way of funding future care or reconstructive surgery.”

Mrs Knight is campaigning for a change in the law and hopes to collect 100,000 names to secure a Parliamentary debate.

She said: “I have spoken to hundreds of former cosmetic surgery patients and they have all without exception sought medical help either from A&E or their GP.

“Some are even being told by the private hospitals to go to A&E as they do not have the adequate facilities to accommodate most emergency situations for their thousands of patients when complications set in.

“We need to send out a clear message to the world that the UK isn’t a honey pot where you can make millions and injure patients without fear of prosecution. There should criminal action against surgeons who choose to practice without the relevant insurance in place to protect the patient and ultimately the NHS.”

She is backed by North Durham MP Kevan Jones, who introduced a ten minute rule bill which gained the backing of several MPs.

It was listed for a second reading, but was delayed during a terror attack at Westminster in March.

Mr Jones said he hopes the petition will give Parliamentarians another chance to debate the issue.

He said: “This issue needs to be looked at by Parliament and the Government and we need the public to get behind this petition to prevent more lives from being ruined and to stop the cost to the NHS for putting right botched operations from mounting.”

To sign log on to: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/203687