I had gastric band surgery and lost 9st in a year

A woman who lost nine stone in a year after gastric sleeve surgery says strangers accused her husband of "controlling" her meals – due to her restrictive diet.

Hayley Lees, 31, piled on weight after she blamed herself for an ectopic pregnancy and was 20st and a size 22 at her heaviest.

She would eat a takeaway every night, gorge on family size bags of crisps and didn't exercise.

Hayley was desperate for a baby but felt she needed to lose weight to fall pregnant and was finally accepted for a gastric sleeve - where a large part of the stomach is removed so it's much smaller than it was before - in August 2022.

She had the operation in July 2023 on the NHS and despite regretting it at first she now says it is the “best thing” she has done.

In just 12 months, Hayley has dropped to 10st 13lbs and is a size 10.