OBESE people in Worcester will be able to have weight-loss surgery at the city’s hospital as early as next month.

Worcestershire Royal will become one of six accredited West Midlands hospitals offering bariatric surgery from April, meaning patients will no longer have to travel outside the region.

The surgery, which includes procedures such as gastric banding and gastric bypasses, is designed to help morbidly obese patients to lose weight if all other methods have failed.

A designated team of surgeons, physicians, dieticians and specialist nurses will carry out the procedures, performed by keyhole surgery.

Initially, about 50 patients a year will benefit from the surgery, although it is hoped the service will offer an increasing number of patients the chance to receive the life-changing treatment.

The patients will be referred by their GPs to the hospital’s medical weight management service for their suitability for the surgery to be assessed.

Anthony Perry, a consultant surgeon at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, said: “The accreditation followed a rigorous review of our facilities and clinical expertise.”

In December, the National Child Measurement Programme showed how one in 10 four and five-year-olds in the county were clinically obese and close to one in every five 10 and 11-year-olds.

In November, a survey of 40,000 Nuffield Health users claimed Worcester women were the second fattest in the the country.

The county also placed fourth in the list of the morbidly obese.