A Hindu woman has won £4,000 in damages after a surgeon performed an operation on her nose using "sacred" cow cartilage without her knowledge.

The woman, who has asked not to be named, said she would never have consented to the procedure had she known, as cattle are revered in her religion. The 34-year-old said she was always self conscious about a small lump on the bridge of her nose and a slight bend, believing they spoiled her looks.

She was referred to surgeon Leo Stassen, at Sunderland General Hospital, who agreed to carry out the rhinoplasty reconstructive surgery on the National Health Service.

She says she was never told about the nature of the implant.

The woman, an educational administrator, originally from East Boldon, Sunderland, had the operation in 1994.

She said: "The rhinoplasty was to reduce the lump and straighten my nose. There was never any mention of implants from my own body and certainly no mention of bovine implants."

After a six-year court battle for compensation, she accepted a settlement of £4,000 this week.

But she says she now faces a bill of more than £11,000 to have the surgery rectified.

The woman, now living in London, said: "I would never have agreed to it had I been told."

City Hospitals Sunderland said the payment had been made with no admission of liability, but it expressed sympathy for any discomfort the woman felt.