Fatmen Slim (with liposuction's help)

Middle-class men desperate to be slim are fuelling a near three-fold increase in liposuction operations, new figures show.

Weary of dieting or shuttling to the gym, men are following the example of thousands of female counterparts and having their excess fat vacuumed away.

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Statistics compiled by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, show a 280 per cent rise in male liposuction in the UK over the past two years, to 494 procedures last year.

Experts believe that the trend has been driven by an increasing obsession with body image combined with greater awareness, acceptance and availability of cosmetic surgery.

"Men are catching up with women in everything, from the way they dress and smell, to a willingness to have procedures like this done," said Adrian Richards, a consultant plastic surgeon at AR & Associates on Harley Street.

"Everyone has a bit of their body they would change in an ideal world - and now more men are realising they have the power to do exactly that."

Mr Richards said he has seen male liposuction patient numbers double at his own clinic over the past 12 months, with the neck, chin, flanks, abdomen and chest - the dreaded man boobs, or "moobs" - the most common areas for treatment. In its simplest form, liposuction involves the diluting or breaking up of fatty deposits in these parts of the body, before vacuuming them away. A typical procedure will cost upwards of £3,000.

Another leading Harley Street cosmetic surgeon, Dalia Nield of the London Clinic, said she too had noted a dramatic rise in the numbers of men demanding liposuction.

"These men have been living with unwanted fat for years and years," said Ms Nield. "If you feel like you have the hips of a hippopotamus, this can make a big difference to your life. Liposuction is a liberation for these people: they're able to wear T-shirts and take them off at the beach without being self-conscious."

James Spencer, a 45-year-old financial director, paid £6,000 for liposuction last year and describes it as "one of the best decisions I've ever made."

"It wasn't a case of wanting to lose weight - it was a case of trying to shift fat in an area I just couldn't lose it from at the gym," said Mr Spencer, from south London. "The result has been fantastic - a totally flat tummy. It makes you look better, feel healthier, and keeps you feeling at the top of your game professionally, particularly when you have ambitious younger people coming up beneath you. There is an element of me that says I have cheated a bit, but I have an entirely new wardrobe - and absolutely no regrets."

2,452 Total number of cosmetic procedures performed on men in the UK in 2006. The top five operations were:

525 Rhinoplasty, which was the most common cosmetic procedure for men

506 Blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery): the number of procedures was up 48 per cent overall since 2005.

494 Liposuction - the surge in male patients raised this procedure from eighth position in 2005 to the number three slot last year

397 Otoplasty - pinning back the ears is one of the few procedures where male patient numbers are comparable to female numbers (546)

190 Face/neck lift - part of a major rise in anti-ageing procedures paid for by men