A WOMAN was told she could not have surgery at Dorset County Hospital because she is too fat - on the day she booked in for an operation.

Amanda Dennett, 41, said she was shocked and confused by the flagship Dorchester hospital's last-minute decision not to operate.

But a hospital spokesman stated today that staff had warned her to lose weight five months ago.

Mrs Dennett, a mother-of-two, hit back, saying: "Nobody had mentioned it before. I was actually there with my case packed and all ready for my operation.

"I'd been seen three or four times and nobody said anything about my weight. I'd actually been up there three days ago for my pre-op check. I haven't put on weight."

Mrs Dennett said she had struggled through 12 years of back pain after damaging a disc while expecting her first baby.

She said: "I've had injections into the spine but they don't work after a while and it was getting really bad.

"The consultant told me in October that I needed to have surgery to remove the disc and put it right. There was no mention of my weight then - and it wasn't mentioned on the other times I've been to the hospital.

"Now I've been told I've got to see the dietician - and that won't be for at least two weeks. I don't know when I'll have the operation."

Her father Michael Osborne, who drove Mrs Dennett to hospital - and home again - said he was angry and disappointed. He said: "Why haven't they said anything before on the times she's been up there?

"I think they want to delay doing it until after April and the start of the next financial year when they get more funding. That's what it looks like.

"I think it's diabolical to turn round at the last minute and say tough luck - why didn't they say anything before this?"

Mrs Dennett, of Butt Close, Puddletown, who is 5ft 2in tall, said she weighs 13 stone but does not smoke and believes she is fit enough for her long-awaited surgery. She said: "I would like to lose a bit of weight, obviously, but my back's so painful I can't exercise at all. I'm constantly on painkillers but they don't make any difference now. I'm so upset."

A hospital spokesman said Mrs Dennett's consultant Andrew Hilton told her in October to lose weight before surgery.

The spokesman said: "Mr Hilton agreed to list Mrs Dennett on the understanding she must lose significant weight prior to her surgery."

She added: "Both Mr Hilton and the anaesthetist agreed categorically that it would be unsafe to operate on Mrs Dennett at her current weight. The operation on her back would mean her lying face down on the operating table for more than three hours and it would be difficult to ventilate her.

"The hospital strongly dislikes having to cancel a patient's operation on the day of surgery and fully understand and appreciate how distressing this must be to the patient."