Government officials are set to meet with their Turkish counterparts to discuss safety fears following the death of a Norfolk woman during 'Brazilian butt lift' (BBL) surgery.

Melissa Kerr, originally from Gorleston, died in Medicana Kadikoy Hospital in Istanbul in 2019 following complications during the controversial procedure - which collects fat from elsewhere in the body and injects it into the buttocks.

It emerged that during the surgery, injected fat had entered a vein before blocking Miss Kerr's pulmonary artery.

Following an inquest into her death, Norfolk's senior coroner Jacqueline Lake wrote to the Department of Health and Social Care with concerns that the 31-year-old, who lived in Denton, had not been made fully aware of the risk of the procedure.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Senior coroner Jacqueline Lake. Photo: Bill Smith

In her report to prevent future deaths she wrote: "I am concerned that patients travelling to Turkey for this procedure are not being made aware of the risks and high mortality rate associated with this surgery."

In a written response, minister for women's health strategy Maria Caulfield said officials would be meeting with their counterparts in Turkey to discuss Miss Kerr's case - and a wider scope of so-called "cosmetic tourism".

She wrote: "The intention is to discuss the regulatory framework and the protections that are in place for UK nationals and to identify concrete areas where the UK and Turkish authorities should work together to reduce the risks to patients in the future.

"It is particularly important that those considering having the Brazilian butt lift procedure are made fully aware of the risks and have time to reflect fully on their decision ahead of surgery.

"The risk of death for BBL surgery is at least 10 times higher than many other cosmetic procedures and has the highest death rate of all cosmetic procedures."

Following Miss Kerr's death, her family and friends raised more than £2,000 in her memory.