Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust has seen its spending on obesity soar, new figures have shown.

High demand for stomach surgery for obese patients as well as the cost of specialist equipment - such as larger examination couches - means the costs incurred by PCTs have shot up.

Oxfordshire PCT said its budget in 2007/08 was £88,000, rising to £245,000 in 2008/2009 and £695,000 in 2009/10.

The new statistics come after official figures published in February revealed that weight-loss stomach surgery for obesity has risen 40 per cent in a year.