A controversial vaginal mesh procedure will continue to be offered by the NHS despite being blamed for inflicting agony on thousands of women, officials have announced.

The synthetic mesh is surgically woven into the pelvis as a treatment for urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

Campaigners have branded today’s recommendations by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as “appalling”, saying they “clear the way for the next generation of women to be harmed”.

The organisation, which decides what drugs and procedures must be offered by NHS doctors, said the “true prevalence of long-term complications following surgery with mesh is unknown”.

However, it has stressed that patients should be given alternative therapies, such as help with lifestyle changes and bladder training, before being offered a vaginal mesh.

It also ordered the establishment of a national database to better track complications from the procedure, as well as six-month follow-up appointments for all patients.

Around 92,000 women had a vaginal mesh implant in England in the eight years up to March 2015, with estimates suggesting almost 10 per cent experienced problems.

Kath Sansom, from the campaign group Sling the Mesh, said: “We are appalled that despite political campaigns and the obvious suffering of many women, these guidelines are no different from what was published in 2003.