A GYNAECOLOGIST yesterday denied a woman patient had asked him to save her ovaries during a hysterectomy operation.

Dr Nazar Amso, 53, said he would not have gone ahead with surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Gateshead, if Linda Alder had insisted on that condition.

He claimed he removed the ovaries only after considering all the options and told the General Medical Council: "If she had said that it would have rung alarm bells in my mind.

"I would not have been in a position to offer a guarantee if unexpected events happen."

His barrister, Robert Seabrook, asked: "Did you deliberately remove them against her wishes?"

Dr Amso said: "No, sir."

He admitted he did not make a note of the reasons for the removal.

Mrs Alder, then 35, has claimed the doctor assured her they were to be conserved in the operation on June 7, 1996. But Dr Amso claims he warned Mrs Alder that he might have to remove the ovaries.

Mr Seabrook asked: "Would you have embarked on this surgery if there had been a constraint on removing her ovaries?"

Dr Amso said: "No."

He also claimed that Mrs Alder never complained about the removal until he received a solicitor's letter in December, 1996.

The hearing continues.