DESPERATE to change her “long and saggy” boobs and avoid the long wait for a UK operation, mum-of-three Claire Rigley turned to the latest plastic-surgery destination for a quick fix - Prague.

Booking a cheap holiday, the 36-year-old went under the knife for what she thought was a reasonable £3,295, but she ended up with seeping wounds and a lost nipple.

9 Claire was desperate to get rid of her 'long and saggy' boobs with a cheap fix Credit: Claire Riley

9 The mum-of-three was left with a botched job that has left her suffering for more than a decade Credit: Claire Riley

Claire is just one of hundreds of Brits jetting to Prague for cheap plastic surgery each year, lured by the promise of nose jobs for as little as £490.

Love Island’s Jess Shears and Irish underwear model Ava Van Rose have boosted the Czech Republic’s reputation as the go-to place for a quick nip and tuck, resulting in a ten per cent rise in Brits booking ops there.

Jess plastered posts about her recent Prague boob job across Instagram, with her 1.2 million followers seeing she used the swanky W1One Knightsbridge surgery in London and its Prague partner Esthé Plastika in August 2017.

Esthé Plastika offers boob jobs for under £1,800, less than half the price of UK surgeries.

But it's not just celebs promoting these clinics - many companies have social media marketing campaigns which are especially created to target insecure and cash-strapped British.

This comes at a time where complaints about botched oversees ops have surged 120 per cent over the last five years.

While there is no suggestion there is anything wrong with the clinic Jess chose on this occasion, this was her second op, needed after her first left her with "weird" breasts she was unhappy with.

There have been reports of patients travelling to Prague for surgery suffering poor procedures, lifelong damage and even deadly, flesh-eating infections.

Here we hear from two women whose dreams of having the perfect body soon descended into a Czech nightmare.

9 Jessica Shears was pictured at a plastic surgery clinic in Prague ahead of her second boob job Credit: Instagram

'Surgeon was a joke'

Claire spent £3,295 on a boob job in Prague in 2008 after becoming unhappy with her breasts when she lost weight and had three kids.

The office manager from Nottingham tells Sun Online: “My breasts were very big but I was in my twenties and they were long and saggy and not right."

The operation to take her from a 40FF to a 38FF was similarly priced to that in the UK but it was available sooner.

She opted for a breast reduction and augmentation, which involved cutting her skin and placing silicone implants in her chest.

She jetted off to the Czech Republic with a friend and spent five days in the country in total before flying back following the operation on April 1, 2008 – a date which is etched in her memory.

"April 1 says it all - the surgeon was a complete joke," she says.

"After the second day, the surgeon came to check and I already had discolouration of the nipple.

9 Claire (left) felt her breasts needed augmentation after losing weight and having children Credit: Claire Riley

9 Just days after her surgery, Claire's nipples were already discoloured and her wounds were weeping

'My boobs were a complete mess'

Incredibly, Claire was allowed home despite this.

“On the fifth day I was released and allowed back to the UK,” she says.

“They told me a nurse would come and visit me, check on the wounds, change bandages and so on."

This didn't happen, with Claire continually contacting the clinic only to be told her discomfort was normal.

By day 10 she still hadn't seen anyone and became so worried she took matters into her own hands.

She went to hospital the next day and doctors immediately said she needed surgery.

Claire was rushed to Nottingham City Hospital and had her implants removed the following morning.

9 Claire's implants had cut off her blood supply, leaving her with infection, gangrene and a 'lost' nipple Credit: Claire Riley

'I felt like I was going to die after tummy tuck'

Sadly her experience is far from unique.

British mum Mikayla Whitworth, 30, has launched a £100,000 legal claim following a disastrous tummy tuck in 2013 which left her with a flesh-eating bug so severe she needed to have a foot of rotten skin removed from her stomach.

The day after her tummy tuck she "felt like she was going to die" from excruciating pain, and she was vomiting and suffering hot and cold sweats.

Instead of being rushed to see the surgeon, Mikayla claims Czech medics told her to "eat biscuits and drink sweet tea".

At a check-up a few days later she was told everything was normal, so she made the decision to fly home.

The mum-of-one ended up in hospital in the UK, where she was diagnosed with sepsis and the life-threatening flesh-eating disease necrotising fasciitis.

NHS surgeons removed a 2.4-inch, one-foot wide slab of infected flesh from her stomach.

Mikayla, from Ashington, Northumberland, told the Daily Mail: "I had gone from having a simple infection that should have been noticed and treated to having sepsis and necrotising fasciitis and fighting for my life.

"I have not been able to pick my son up. I can’t lie on my front or lie flat – it broke my marriage up."

The impact was huge, with the mum blaming the botched op in the Czech Republic for the breakdown of her marriage, but there are other ramifications too.

9 Mikayla Whitworth also suffered from botched surgery done in Prague Credit: North News and Pictures

'My boobs are lumpy and bumpy again'

Meanwhile, Claire’s Prague surgeon had taken too much skin away and used implants that were too big so cut off her blood supply.

She was left with a "complete and utter mess" which she tried to fix with further surgery, but last year she had her implants taken out for good.

“The damage done from the first surgeon was severe,” she says.

“After having the implants put in again they struggled to sew me up due to muscle weakness and deterioration.

“I’m now back with my natural lumpy and bumpy breasts. I’ve basically gone in a full circle and I’m back where I started.

“I definitely would never go down this route again. They prey on people who want something cheap and want it now.

“But once you're on the plane home, you're on your own."

9 Claire's wounds were so severe that even a decade later, she is still suffering the consequences Credit: Claire Riley

Sucked in on social media

Claire worries there's even more pressure on women to look good these days thanks to reality stars and Instagram.

Some have accused the firms of failing to take the surgery seriously.

Bum lifts, boob jobs, tummy tucks, nose jobs and more are being advertised for rock-bottom prices.

While a UK boob job could set you back as much as £7,000, one Prague firm we found offers the op for just £2,200. For £300 more you can tack on flights and accommodation.

Nose jobs are on offer for £490 rather than the £5,000 they cost at home, while one company with 13,000 Facebook followers simply promises rates “three times cheaper than the UK”.

One suggested patients could spend time “sightseeing and gallery hopping” before flying home – just hours after having general anaesthetic. The NHS states all people who have a general anaesthetic should not be left alone for up to 48 hours.

If patients have questions post-surgery, a Whatsapp number is provided, a far cry from having your surgeon on hand in hospital should the worst happen in the UK.

9 Claire is one of thousands of women who purchased cheap surgery only to be seen by the NHS to fix the botched job Credit: Claire Riley

One in four want cut-price ops

She is now suing over the £3,250 procedure, which could have cost up to £10,000 at a practice in Harley Street, London.

Mikayla claims she's been plagued by nightmares and panic attacks since the op, which left her fearing she'd die.

Her law firm Slater and Gordon are seeing more and more of these kind of complaints, prompting them to study the trend for cheap surgery.

It found one in four millennials would risk having cut-price surgery abroad and that around 1,000 men and women need treatment on sloppy surgery annually, at an average cost of £6,000 per patient.

That’s a total bill of £6million to the NHS every year - enough to pay around 200 nurses' salaries.

Botch jobs by numbers Lawyer firm Slater and Gordon asked 1650 millenials about their attitudes to getting quick and cheap surgery abroad. They disturbingly found that: One in four millenials admitted to laywer firm Slater and Gordon that they would risk having cut-price surgery abroad in order to get the perfect body.

millenials admitted to laywer firm Slater and Gordon that they would in order to get the perfect body. Nearly nine out of ten were willing to have invasive work done at overseas clinics, while knowing procedures and surgerons are likely to be less regulated or less safe than those on home soil.

were willing to have invasive work done at overseas clinics, while knowing procedures and surgerons are likely to be than those on home soil. A further 15 per cent said having the surgery was worth the risk of 'infection, deformity and life threatening conditions' if it meant 'looking good'.

said having the surgery was of 'infection, deformity and life threatening conditions' if it meant 'looking good'. Seventeen per cent of those who said they'd go abroad for surgery said they'd keep it a secret from their families, while 15 per cent thought it'd be an easy way to incorporate a holiday into changing their appearance.

of those who said they'd go abroad for surgery said they'd from their families, while thought it'd be an into changing their appearance. One in ten millenials blamed comparing themselves to others on why they felt they needed surgery, with 42 per cent admitting to having negative comments, half of which on social media, about their looks in the past year.

Surgeon Rajan Uppal, a member of the British Associated of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) is in no doubt that changes need to happen.

“I had one woman coming in with an infection after having buttock implants abroad but she refused to have them taken out and instead kept coming back from antibiotics,” he said.

“The NHS employs plastic surgery departments to treat skin cancer, burns, children born with abnormalities and trauma to the hands, face and other parts of the body.

“Treating patients going abroad for cheap cosmetic procedures is becoming a huge financial burden on the NHS and is taking up valuable bed space.

"Patients come in with infections, delayed healing and even needing to be hooked up to an IV drip.

“The NHS needs to start looking at pursuing these patients for costs just as they do to overseas patients.”