CRISTINA ALONTI had been wanting a breast uplift since the birth of her first child 13 years ago. But at £4,800, the operation was well beyond her means.

“Then one day I heard about a clinic where I could get it done for half the price,” the mother-of-three said. “I knew straight away that was the place for me.”

Welcome to Easylook, the cosmetic surgery department at the Rive Droite private health clinic in Geneva.

Created by Tom Gyger, the clinic’s administrator, Easylook offers a low-cost, no-frills service that aims to do for the nip and tuck what easyJet did for air travel.

The company hopes to expand to other countries including Britain, but British plastic surgeons gave warning last night that the low-cost system was a “terrifying” departure that would compromise patient safety.

M Gyger, however, is convinced that his system will serve the public well.

“Basically, aesthetic surgery was created for rich people — people who are on the front page of the tabloids,” he said. “But ordinary people want it, too, and they don’t want to wait years while they save up. After all, we live in a society where the beautiful have easier lives.”

The tanned 45-year-old M Gyger claims to be bringing beauty to the masses, or at least to the middle classes. He says that he undercuts competitors by reducing all costs except those related to safety.

“There is no television in the bedroom, no telephone and no flowers. There is no private garden either, because that means you’d have to pay for the gardener,” he said.

“We don’t have a canteen and we only provide simple meals — breakfast, soup or pasta, for instance. “If patients want something else, then we go and get it for them from one of ten restaurants around here, and they have to pay for it.

“This is not luxurious but when you’ve had an operation, you don’t care if there’s a Gauguin on the wall or if the director has a new Mercedes.”

Norman Waterhouse, an aesthetic tutor at the Royal College of Surgeons, said that such cutting of costs would affect patient care. He said that Britain would be powerless to stop the growth of such no-frills procedures.

“In healthcare you get what you pay for,” Mr Waterhouse, a Harley Street surgeon, said. “This is hugely concerning . . . The cost of cosmetic surgery is not about plastic surgeons earning a lot of bucks, it is about health and safety, and I fear for patients with this sort of approach.”

Adam Searle, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: “This mortifies me. If you want an easy look then that means going into Boots and getting a facial moisturiser. There is no such thing as easy surgery.”

M Gyger said that he had reduced costs by paying doctors 30 per cent below the usual rate, “but they do more operations so they’re happy,” he added.

Easylook has used aggressive, taboo-breaking advertisements in Geneva’s public transport, which have drawn fierce criticism that the clinic was transforming health into commerce. M Gyger said: “The others are only upset because we do the same thing as they do for much less.”

M Gyger said that Easylook was safer than clinics in Africa and Eastern Europe. “You can’t stop people dreaming,” he said. “If they want to look better and can’t afford it in Europe, they’ll go to Tunisia. But they’re better off here.”

Mme Alonti, 34, from Ecublens, near Lausanne, agreed. “I thought about going to North Africa or Brazil. Then I thought it might be risky. In Switzerland, I’ve got no worries.”

She added that before her operation she had not wanted to go to the beach or the swimming pool. “This is a real confidence booster,” she said.

CUTTING COSTS

Other European clinics charge at least 50 per cent more. In Geneva, where private operating theatres are billed at up to £405 for 15 minutes, and where the best surgeons charge £1,136 an hour and anaesthetists £227 an hour, it is often 100 per cent more