PIONEERING surgery to tackle obesity is to be offered for the first time in Lancashire.

The private Beardwood Hospital in Blackburn is offering the treatment -- but only to failed slimmers.

People will have to prove they have attempted to lose weight through diet and exercise before they are allowed to have surgery.

In the past it has been all too easy to criticise private healthcare firms for offering surgery to the highest bidder. But Beardwood bosses are at pains to stress they are not offering a quick fix and that checks would be made on potential patients.

Consultant surgeon Colin Harris said: "Obesity surgery should be the final option for people who simply cannot lose weight -- and once you've tried everything else."

In recent years, the Government has promoted a series of initiatives designed to help people to lose weight. That's because obesity and its knock-on effects like heart disease and diabetes are seen as a serious drain on NHS resources -- obesity is very much a health problem for the nation.

But as much as it is a health problem, obesity is a social problem.

And it's a problem largely, though not exclusively, confined to lower social classes. With deprivation comes poor food and eating habits - and with those comes obesity.

While the new treatment should be welcomed, the fact remains that the people who will need the treatment most will not be able to afford it.The treatment at Beardwood will cost an estimated £8,000.

NHS patients may be accepted but only if their primary care trusts are willing to foot the bill.

Hopefully our NHS hospitals will not be too far behind in offering their own treatments.