MORE than anything else in the world Tracey Parker wanted to be able to throw away her specs. At school, she only needed glasses to see the blackboard but as she got older she needed them more and more. "When I started to drive I ended up wearing them all the time. Then I became completely reliant on them and just couldn't see without them," says Tracey, who works behind the bar at her parents' pub, The Green Tree in Tudhoe, near Spennymoor, County Durham.

Despite being very attractive and paying top dollar for the trendiest specs around, she was convinced her glasses put her at a disadvantage. "When I had my glasses on I felt I wasn't pretty. Other people might enjoy wearing glasses and I know they have become fashionable - but I didn't like them. You put your make-up on and then put your glasses on and nobody would know you were wearing make-up."

Like most spectacle wearers Tracey tried contacts, but couldn't get on with them. "They were just too much hassle," says the 23-year-old.

She'd heard of laser surgery to correct short-sightedness but along with the tantalising prospect of chucking away her glasses for good, were the scare stories.

"I talked to a couple of people who had it done and decided to follow it up. I wanted to know exactly what happened, whether it hurt and what they thought about it. You do hear some nightmare stories. Somebody said you could end up blind when you are older," she says.

Eventually Tracey contacted the BUPA Hospital in Washington. The North-East laser unit has treated more than 3,000 people since it opened eight years ago and from January began offering something special to paying customers.

John Howe, the hospital's highly experienced eye specialist, is very proud of his new baby - a state-of-the-art £330,000 Mel 70 G-Scan surgical laser.

The Washington unit is only the second centre in the UK to offer patients treatment with the new, improved machine. Eye laser treatment is not available on the NHS.

And so far patients from Japan, Finland and Germany have travelled to Washington for treatment, although the majority are from closer to home.

Mr Howe explains: "Just as you have personalised finger prints, so you have personalised corneas and the new laser recognises that fact.

"I might see people who have the same prescription but the corneas are slightly different so the results after laser treatment varies. The reason for this is that previous lasers did not take the precise corneal shape into account. The new laser is more sophisticated and more precise."

Because of the increased sensitivity of the new German-made laser Mr Howe estimates that around 95 per cent of all refractive problems - including short-sight, long-sight and astigmatism - can now be successfully treated with the laser.

"The new technology means you remove less tissue with the same effect and the less tissue you remove the higher the refractive error you can deal with. With the laser you can treat people who could not be treated before."

So far, so good. But what about the patients?

"That is where there has been another huge improvement," says Mr Howe, who has treated radio and television presenters, a Premiership footballer and a host of amateur golfers since the new machine was installed.

"The side-effects are lower and the majority of patients should be able to see well enough to drive the day after treatment." In the past some patients experienced pain and discomfort during and after laser surgery, but the new equipment seems to keep problems to a minimum.

"The majority of the people I have treated have no pain at all. Normally I ask them to keep a pad on their eye for about two hours. The healing is so quick that I tell patients they can go out that same evening, if they want to," he says.

In the early days of laser surgery post-treatment discomfort could be quite severe, patients needed several days for their vision to settle and it took up to three months to fully stabilise. But the new machine means that sight should be stable within a few days.

All this didn't make Tracey feel any better when she found herself staring into a high-powered surgical laser. "What Mr Howe told me reassured me, but it's still frightening when you are getting it done. You think what if something happens but during the treatment and afterwards I didn't feel any pain at all, it was all over in five minutes," says Tracey.

Afterwards, she had to wear a patch over her eye for about two hours. When she took it off she could hardly believe it. "I could see perfectly, I just thought great! No more glasses, no more contacts."

She could hardly wait to have her second eye done, a week later. That was a month ago and now Tracey has adjusted to her new glasses-free status.

"My confidence has improved a great deal since I had it done. I can't believe it really. Now I can put my make-up on and I feel good."

The technology does not come cheap and Tracey, who had severe short-sightedness, had to find £1,400 for each eye - a total of £2,800.

She admits it was daunting but with the help of her parents, Yvonne and Richard, she raised the money and has no regrets.

"It seems a lot of money but if you add up the cost of eye tests, contacts and glasses for the rest of your life you will save in the long-run. It does seem a lot to pay all at once, but I would have paid more."

* For more information about eye laser surgery ring 0191-415 1272. Treatment starts at £495 per eye for moderate short-sight. Severe short-sight can cost from £1,400 per eye.