More than 50 patients who were given a controversial type of bowel surgery should not have been operated on, a hospital trust has admitted.

Dozens of women say they were left in severe pain after pelvic floor surgery using artificial mesh at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

Surgeon Tony Dixon was suspended in 2017 after concerns were first raised and an inquiry examined 143 cases.

Dr Dixon, who also worked at the private Spire Hospital in Bristol, pioneered the use of artificial mesh to lift prolapsed bowels - a technique known as laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR) - often caused by childbirth.

North Bristol NHS Trust has told 57 patients they should have been offered alternative treatment first following an investigation into their care.

Another 73 patients considered by the review have been told the surgery they received was appropriate.

A further 13 patients have been told that investigations into their cases remain ongoing and will be completed as soon as possible.

After concerns were raised about pelvic floor surgery, the trust began a review of the cases of women and men who underwent the procedure between 2007 and 2017.

Dr Chris Burton, medical director of the North Bristol NHS Trust, said: "I want to apologise to all patients who have received surgery unnecessarily - it is unacceptable and we are taking it extremely seriously.