A coroner has ordered a jury inquest into the death of a young woman after a routine operation went terribly wrong.

The family of Elaine Basham, 33, who died of complications after an operation to remove her tonsils and adenoids, have welcomed the unusual decision by the Teesside Coroner.

In UK law, an inquest jury must be summoned when there is reason to suspect that death occurred in circumstances which could pose a safety threat to the public.

Miss Basham's family hope that the inquest will provide their lawyers with a platform to call for a full public inquiry.

Her death in November 2001 cast doubt on the safety of disposable surgical instruments brought in because of fears that re-usable instruments might be spreading variant-Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD).

Five months before Miss Basham was operated on, a two-year-old boy in Cheshire died after surgery involving re-usable instruments.

Shortly after Miss Basham's death, the Department of Health told surgeons in England not to use single-use instruments during ear, nose and throat (ENT) operations.

Despite the problems, more than a year after Miss Basham's death surgeons in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are still using the controversial instruments.

Her mother, Julie Basham, of Loftus, East Cleveland, believes her daughter would still be alive if conventional instruments been used for her operation.

A week before Miss Basham's operation at the North Riding Infirmary, in Middlesbrough, the Department of Health issued a hazard notice giving updated advice to surgeons working with single-use instruments.

"I think her death could have been prevented if they had not used those instruments. They had hazard notices before the operation, but they still went ahead and used them. They should have been properly tested out before they were used on people," said Mrs Basham."

Richard Follis, the family's solicitor, said: "There are a whole series of questions we need answering."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said an investigation into tonsil and adenoid operations in England during the period of disposable instrument use, which was launched last August, was continuing.

Grant Bates, honorary secretary of the ENT Association, said: "When disposable instruments were being used, in some hospitals there were significant complications because of poor-quality instruments. However, this did not happen in all hospitals."