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A schoolgirl whose parents agreed to pay for her breast implant operation at the age of 16 has been told by a leading surgeon she is too young.

Jenna Franklin, who planned to undergo breast enlargement surgery once she turned 16 in August this year, has had her hopes dashed after the surgeon she was due to see said she should wait for a few years. The 15-year-old has wanted surgery since the age of 12 to boost her self-confidence. Jenna - whose story is featured in a Channel 4 documentary next week - must legally wait until she is 16. She wants to increase her bust size from 34A to a C or D-cup.

Anthony Erian, of the Cambridge Private Hospital, Cambridge, was due to assess Jenna after her birthday. But the surgeon, who is also president of the European Academy of Cosmetic Surgeons and has practised the technique for 23 years, said she must wait until she is 18 because she is not mature enough emotionally or physically at 16.

"At 16, the breast hasn't matured enough, and the ducts are not fully developed", he said. Jenna's parents Kay and Martin, who jointly run a cosmetic surgery advisory service, were planning to foot the £3,250 cost of the surgery.

But the couple, of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, came under fierce criticism for encouraging their teenage daughter to undergo the operation at such a tender age.

Kay, 40, who has had breast implants herself, defended her decision, but said the surgeon ultimately had the final say. "It's not a crime for my daughter to want to improve herself. If you have a car, you would pay to improve it for it to last longer. Why is it any different with her body? If he (Mr Erian) says 16 is too young for Jenna to have the operation then we will respect that, and she will have to wait until she is 18. If we were to do anything else we wouldn't be responsible parents."

Mrs Franklin has run the family business with her 45-year-old husband for the past three years, but she has had a 20-year career in the cosmetic industry. She said Jenna and her two other children, Bjorn, 11, and Jordan, 13, had been brought up close to the industry, and it was no surprise Jenna felt comfortable with the idea. Jenna, who is studying for her GCSEs, wants to continue her education and train to become a plastic surgeon. She believes the operation will give her confidence to achieve her goals in life.

"I am a nervous person and it will help me overcome this", she says. "All teenagers have different problems, either with their weight or hair - mine is simply with my bust."

Mrs Franklin may now sound ambivalent about her daughter's operation, but in a national newspaper interview yesterday what she did not reveal is that she works in partnership with a cosmetic surgeon at a Harley Street clinic whose professional approach prove her daughter's story is more than a disturbing one-off.

A Daily Mail special investigation has revealed that the surgeon, Mr Saif Khan of the Grosvenor House Centre for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, is willing to perform surgery on young girls.