More people are needing life-saving stomach operations to save them as the county faces a growing obesity timebomb.

Twenty-nine patients went under the knife for gastric bypasses at Oxfordshire's hospitals in 2006/7, the Government said.

It was a 16 per cent increase on the previous 12 months as the county's primary care trust (PCT) battles to help people control their weight.

Gastric bypass surgery, costing up to £15,000 an operation, involves dividing the stomach into two pouches and connecting the smaller one directly to the final segment of the small intestine.

The elaborate operations are only recommended as a last resort for the morbidly obese.

But an Oxford woman who underwent the op and lost a staggering 18 stone believes it will become more popular.

Zena Hurn, 48, is a secretary for Oxfordshire Mental Health Trust who lives in Cowley, was told she could die unless the operation was carried out.

She said: "I think surgery like this will become more and more popular, but I would say that it should only be used as a final resort, when you have tried everything else."

Nationally 3,459 gastric bypass operations were carried out in 2006/7 - up by 41 per cent on the previous year.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "These figures reflect the human and financial cost of obesity.

"Gastric bypass surgery is a last-ditch solution and the number of operations will continue to rise sharply in the future unless we do a lot more to encourage people to be more active and eat more healthily."

In February, the Oxford Mail revealed one in five children in the county was overweight when they start school and almost one third are classed as fat by the time they move to secondary education.

Health experts said the figures showed the county was facing an "obesity timebomb" before it emerged clinically obese children at Gosford Hill School in Kidlington had taken up playing Nintendo Wii - the latest computer console craze - to keep fit.

Earlier this week TV presenter Fern Britton hit the headlines after admitting using a gastric band to lose weight and not by purely exercising. A gastric band is different to a bypass and involves using a band to reduce the top part of the stomach.

Oxfordshire PCT would not comment on the increase in gastric bypass operations.

But said it is trying to highlight ways in which people could avoid getting to the stage where they needed a gastric bypass.

Nicky Vernede, community dietician, said: "Keep a record of everything you eat and drink, as well as any activity you do for one full week.

"This will give you an accurate record of your eating and activity habits. It will help you identify any problem areas or when you overeat. And by doing this, you can pinpoint what it is that you most want to change. To make these changes, choose two or three small things and then write yourself an action plan with clear targets."

The Department of Health said it was down to PCTs to decide what the best course of treatment for patients.

Mum-of-three Zena Hurn weighed 30-plus stones and turned to surgery to lose weight after doctors warned she would die within three years.

That was two years ago and now after a gastric bypass she is 18 stones lighter and has a healthier and happier future.

Mrs Hurn said: "I struggled with my weight since I was a child and tried all the diets going but nothing worked. Two years ago when I was told I could die it was a terrible shock.

"The doctors told me surgery was my best option, but when I looked into having a gastric bypass on the NHS I was told the process could take three years - and I didn't have that time."

Mrs Hurn was forced to go private and had a bypass in Leeds on August 1, 2006.

She said: "I knew what it entailed and I had lots of information about what would happen afterwards. You have a dietician's advice for a year afterwards and you are left with a hefty scar.

"The surgery reduced my stomach to the size of the egg and it will be that way forever.

"For the first six weeks after the op I could only eat liquidised food, which was awful.

"Then I had to gradually introduce new foods, but even now there are some foods I cannot stomach and probably will never be able to."