A NORTH Yorkshire mum-of-four who fears her PIP breast implants have ruptured said she feels stranded after her plastic surgery company shut down.

Laura Steel, 26, said she has suffered a number of health problems since having the PIP implants at the centre of an international health scandal including menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats as well as exhaustion.

Mrs Steel, who had the operation with Cosmetic Surgery Centre Ltd (CSC) at the Park Hill Hospital in Doncaster in 2007, said she has also suffered from such bad headaches since having the implants she was referred for an MRI scan on her brain.

The symptoms have led her to fear she may be suffering from silicone poisoning and may need urgent medical help.

But although the Park Hill Hospital has offered to remove and replace the implants on behalf of CSC which suspended trading in 2010, she said she is likely have to wait for months for treatment, which she believes is too long given her symptoms.

She is angry so many thousands of women are also in limbo as they wait to find out whether their health is at risk.

Mrs Steel said: “I think they have already ruptured, so to wait six months is not good.

“It took me a long time to go for the operation, I’m so scared that I’m going to have to go back to have another operation I did not want. There’s no way I can afford to save up for a replacement with four children. This is causing me mental trauma as well as physical problems.”

She has been told she can see an NHS consultant to determine whether the implants have ruptured but has not received details about how long she will have to wait.

Mrs Steel, who lives in Harrogate, attended protests in Doncaster last weekend and plans to attend a further protest in Leeds. She has also joined the Facebook support group, the Yorkshire PIP Implant Group, set up by York campaigner Jacqueline Anderson.

Mrs Steel said: “We want help and we are not getting it. These companies are in the wrong. If a product is not fit for purpose they should replace it for free.

“I’m hoping that we can show these companies that our health is more important than their wealth. They must have some kind of insurance for these situations. My aim is that we can all be made healthy and safe.”

Park Hill Hospital said it hoped to see all patients for a consultation in the next two months and then to prioritise treatment for patients in order of need.

Dawn Abbott, general manager of Park Hill hospital, said: “As CSC has ceased trading we made the decision to contact all CSC patients whose PIP implant breast augmentation was carried out here and ensure they get the same treatment we’d offer our own patients.”

The NHS has said it will take the implants out if private clinics refuse.

About 40,000 women in Britain have implants made by the French firm Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).