A grandmother was so desperate for a hip operation that she defied the NHS and had treatment in France, a European court was told today.

Yvonne Watts, 74, had been promised a reduced waiting time for treatment from a year to three to four months under the NHS.

But she was in such pain from severe arthritis that she spent almost £4,000 on surgery in France.

Mrs Watts, from Bedford, is challenging the Government in the European Court of Justice over the refusal of Bedford Primary Care Trust to reimburse the cost.

Her lawyer told the Luxembourg judges at today’s hearing that the Trust insisted that Mrs Watts could receive treatment in a reasonable time in line with Government targets and her general state of health.

But, the court heard, she was entitled under EU rules on free movement to travel anywhere within the EU if she faced an "undue delay" in treatment at home. The case is the first of its kind involving the NHS to be challenged under EU law.

The European Court of Justice has tackled challenges from individuals fighting private insurers that have refused to pay for treatment abroad, but has never before been asked to rule in a case involving a state-funded service in the EU where the full cost is normally borne by the authorities.

Mrs Watts has already won a hollow victory in the High Court, which agreed she should be reimbursed "in principle", but said she had not faced an unacceptable wait under the NHS, once the original year-long wait for treatment was reduced to three to four months.

The EU judges were told today that Mrs Watts had decided to see a French consultant about her hips in January 2003, after being told she would have a year-long wait for NHS treatment.

The advice in France was that her need for an operation was becoming more urgent as her health declined.

A few weeks later she saw a British consultant who recommended that she be moved up the NHS waiting list, to receive surgery within three to four months.

But Mrs Watts wanted even swifter treatment abroad and asked Bedford Primary Care Trust to reconsider its earlier refusal to authorise such treatment.

When authorisation was refused on February 4 she decided to go to France anyway, receiving the necessary surgery in Abbeville just a month later, on March 7. The Court of Appeal has referred the case of the EU court, which will not rule until next year.

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