Cosmetic surgery 'credit' for 25%

More than half a million cosmetic operations were performed last year

A quarter of people having cosmetic surgery are paying for it on their credit cards, research suggests.

A study from the Harley Medical Group (HMG) found just over a fifth of patients surveyed had borrowed cash from family to pay for the treatments while only a third had saved up their own money.

The survey of 2,000 of their patients also found one in 10 of them had done overtime to pay for it, or taken on a second job, 8% had used long-term savings and inheritance cash, while 3% took out a loan.

Non-surgical treatments are no longer seen as a luxury Harley Medical Group director Liz Dale

The company, which is one of Britain's largest cosmetic surgery groups, said it had seen an all-time high in enquiries about cosmetic surgery in the first couple of weeks of January 2008. Enquiries were up 32% on the same period in 2007.

HMG director Liz Dale said. "For many of our patients, a treatment with us is now a regular feature in their diary.

"Non-surgical treatments are no longer seen as a luxury, more as part of their normal beauty rejuvenation and maintenance programme."

Popular treatments

A separate survey last month by market analysts Mintel predicted people in Britain would spend about £1bn on cosmetic surgery in 2008.

More than half a million cosmetic treatments were carried out last year, according to the figures.

The most popular were facelifts and boob jobs.

The top surgery for men was having a nose job, for women it was breast enhancements.