A WOMAN who lost a nipple when complications set in after a breast reduction operation must wait to see if she has won her claim for damages after judgement was reserved.

Tracey Rochester, 31, from Cullercoats, North Tyneside, says she was not warned about the full risks of the operation at Newcastle General Hospital in April 1994.

The mother-of-two told Newcastle County Court that one of her nipples turned black and fell off a week after the operation, which she hoped would ease back pain caused by the weight of her breasts.

Mrs Rochester, who says she was not properly advised, nor were proper checks carried out after the operation, is suing the former RVI Hospitals Trust, now Newcastle-upon-Tyne NHS Trust, for breach of duty of care. The trust denies liability.

The trust's barrister Nicholas Peacock said yesterday: ''No doctor intends that the dreadful consequences of this case should happen. It is well-known that patients forget some or much of what they are told in medical consultations of this sort.''

He said surgeons Dr Alan Piggot and Dr Ivan Camilleri, who carried out the operation, had both said Mrs Rochester's condition was "extremely rare in their experience".

Richard Hone QC, for Mrs Rochester, said had she been properly warned of the consequences she would not have had the operation.

Judgement in the case has been reserved to a date to be set by the court