Clinics are reporting a doubling in the number of operations being carried out over just one year. According to surgeons, the male breasts examined are similar in structure to those of women and are not simply fat deposits caused by overeating.

They believe the condition, called gynecomastia, is caused by traces of the female contraceptive pill in tap water and hormones used to promote the growth of farm animals.

Yannis Alexandrides, a surgeon at the Kosmeticos clinic in Harley Street, central London, carried out one male breast reduction a month four years ago but is now doing one a week.

“Hormones contained in the food we eat, particularly fast food, may be one of the reasons why we are seeing this increase,” said Alexandrides.

Alan Kingdon, a cosmetic surgeon and medical director of the Cosmetic Surgery clinic in London, has witnessed a similar increase in demand. He has studied the material removed from men’s breasts and has found mammary gland tissue usually found only in women.

“We are seeing a group of male patients who have glandular tissue growing in their breasts that are feminine in appearance,” he said. “This group of patients appears to be on the increase.

“I can only speculate as to the causes, but I would suspect that the use of oestrogen in the food chain is a factor.”

Professor Kefah Mokbel, a consultant breast and endocrine surgeon at London’s St George’s and Princess Grace hospitals, said he was now treating about 150 men a year for breast reduction.

A survey carried out by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons found that in 2003 its members carried out 22 male breast reductions which in 2004 rose to 53.

Female hormones in the environment have also been blamed for falling sperm counts among British men. Samples taken from 7,500 men attending the Aberdeen Fertility Centre between 1989 and 2002 show that sperm concentrations fell by almost a third.

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