A PIONEERING operation on a girl's disfigured face finally went ahead last night.

Five-year-old Hope Elliott, of the Redhouse Estate, Sunderland, on Wearside, suffers from a rare condition known as cystic lymphovenous malformation, and underwent surgery in London's Portland Hospital a week later than expected.

Her condition means she has a large build-up of cysts on her face and throat, which restricts her breathing and strangles her facial nerves.

Her parents, Bernadette and Peter, launched an appeal to raise £35,000 for the surgery.

The operation, carried out by leading surgeon Professor Ian Jackson, started at 5pm and was expected to take four to five hours