A woman treated by one of Britain's best known surgeons killed herself after the doctor, who is under investigation by the NHS, removed her ovaries during an operation because "they were getting in the way".

Anthony Dixon, who built up an international reputation for using mesh to fix bowel problems, saw Lucinda Methuen-Campbell, 58, at a private hospital in 2016 regarding a bowel disorder.

Dr Dixon, who has been suspended from two hospitals in Bristol, allegedly told Mrs Methuen-Campbell that he removed her ovaries during the surgery "because they were in the way".

Mrs Methuen-Campbell had a vaginal mesh implant inserted to help with a bowel disorder but it left her in agony.

She was later found hanged in her attic having told her ex partner: "There didn't seem to be a way out of the pain."

Mrs Methuen-Campbell's ex-partner Philip Chatfield, a sculptor, said: "The pain continued to get worse and nobody seemed able to solve the problem.

Surgeon Anthony Dixon removed Mrs Methuen-Campbell's ovaries during the surgery without telling her

"Mr Dixon performed the operation in 2016 with the mesh but it was unsuccessful and caused her to be in agony.

"She had a follow-up operation which made things even worse."

The couple first met when Mrs Methuen-Campbell posed as a model for him. The couple later went on to have a son, Angus, 19.

In an interview with the BBC after the operation in 2016, Mrs Methuen-Campbell claimed she had not consented to her ovaries being removed during consultations at The Spire Hospital in Bristol.

She said that the removal was never mentioned before the surgery, and if it had she would have been "vaguely prepared".

She said at the time: "He said he thought he'd done me a favour. And he said: 'I thought you know, a woman of your age wouldn't really need her ovaries.'

"I said 'Why did you remove them?' and he just said 'They were in the way'."

"My life is absolutely ruined but you know, I can't say that it's Mr Dixon's ruined my life."

In January this year, Angus called his father after discovering the attic ladder was down and the hatch open.

Mr Chatfield found his ex-partner hanged in the attic of her home in the village of Three Crosses, near Swansea.

Nearby was a message from Mrs Methuen-Campbell to her son which read: "I'm sorry Angus, I love you, best son ever".

The pain she was in led to her taking her own life

Swansea assistant coroner Aled Gruffydd said: "The operation on Mrs Methuen-Campbell was unsuccessful and made her pain worse and it affected her mental health."

Recording a suicide conclusion he said he was satisfied that she intended to take her own life, adding: “The pain she was in led to her taking her own life."

Speaking after the inquest her son said: "She was in a great deal of pain after the operations and she was very upset that her ovaries had been removed."

Mr Dixon built up an international reputation for using mesh rectopexy to fix bowel problems, often caused by childbirth, but is currently suspended from performing this surgery at two hospitals in Bristol.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has also stopped him from performing another form of corrective surgery, known as a Starr procedure (stapled transanal resection of the rectum), until November 2018.

The NHS has now also referred him to the GMC over mesh procedures.

North Bristol NHS Trust is investigating the consultant, who worked at Southmead Hospital and at the private Spire Hospital in Bristol.

Mr Dixon has previously said all operations can have problems but his are done in good faith and the majority are successful.

In recent years vagininal mesh implants have become controversial as it was found a number of women were reporting negative side effects.

The permanent implants are medical devices used by surgeons to treat pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence in women, conditions that can commonly occur after childbirth.

Some women have reported severe and constant abdominal and vaginal pain following the surgery.

Other women have experienced infections and bleeding, while many have said their original incontinence symptoms have not been improved by the surgery.