A DORSET mother has welcomed a government announcement that she and other women concerned about the safety of their French-manufactured breast implants may be able to have them removed for free.

Many of the implants made by PIP contain industrial silicone, leakages of which have been linked to problems ranging from pain and discomfort to cancer.

The latest guidance from the NHS is that there is no evidence to support routine removal of the implants, or of them causing cancer.

Anyone who has received a PIP implant through the health service will be contacted, offered advice and a scan if she wishes.

Implants put in by the NHS will be removed and replaced if the woman and her doctor decide it is right to do so.

NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson said: “We want the private sector to offer the same service to its patients as the NHS.

“If a clinic that implanted PIP implants no longer exists or refuses to care for their patient, the NHS will support the removal of PIP implants in line with the guidance.”

The Daily Echo understands that PIP implants have never been used at local NHS or private hospitals.

West Moors businesswoman Rowena Mackintosh, whose £4,200 surgery was carried out privately elsewhere in 2009, said: “I want the clinics to remove and replace the PIP implants with what we should have got.

“I paid a lot of money to have these implants from a supposedly reputable clinic. I was guaranteed that they would last for 25 years.

“The only risk I was told about was from the anaesthetic, because I was getting this amazing implant that wouldn’t leak or rupture.

“When you go to a qualified surgeon, you assume it’s going to be safe.”

Mother of two Rowena, who had her operation to boost her confidence after losing weight following the birth of her younger daughter, added: “I don’t regret having them done, but I do regret not researching what sort of implants I was getting.”

She started having pains within a few months of surgery. After a “black mass” was found on a breast scan, she underwent a biopsy, which came back as normal.

“I’m not prepared to sit here and have burning pains for the rest of my days,” she said.

Rowena’s solicitor Mark Harvey, head of personal injury at Hugh James, said: “By only making a suggestion that the cosmetic industry should follow the example of the NHS, the government leaves women vulnerable.

“From our clients’ experiences with many of these clinics, they have shown affected women no sympathy or support and we are extremely concerned that this announcement will again allow them to leave women to try and sort out this serious problem alone.”