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Thousands of women who long for larger breasts but fear the scalpel and its scars could soon benefit from radical new surgery that does away with the knife.

The new "keyhole" enlargement technique, known as endoscopic mammoplasty, is to be unveiled at a London conference this weekend and involves inserting a 30-centimetre long tube called an endoscope into the body through the navel.

The endoscope is then pushed up under the skin in the subcutaneous area above the muscle layer. It travels over the ribs and under the breast where the end of the tube is inserted into the breast tissue itself.

While a section of the tube drains the tiny wound and allows air to escape, a rolled - up inflatable implant is then inserted into the other section tube and pushed up into the breast. The flexible plastic implant is then inflated with sterile saline liquid.

A matching implant is inserted into the other breast and the endoscope withdrawn. Then the hole left by the 11/2-cm diameter tube is closed with two tiny stitches.

The technique has been invented by Dr Gerald Johnson of the Texas Outpatient Surgicare Centre in Houston. He is certain the simple technique will take off quickly in Britain.

"I did the first one in Houston in October last year and so far 120 women have had the operation. They all seem very pleased", he says.

"There is no bleeding or scars - apart from a tiny nick hidden in the tummy button - because there is no cutting."

"I have lectured on the technique in Japan and one question they ask is how do you create the pocket in the tissue to sit the implant in. The answer is that the tissue expands around it gradually."

"For the first three to six weeks the breasts look a little raised but soon the tissue expands to accommodate the implant and they relax to look wonderful."

The short operation - usually one of the most difficult forms of cosmetic surgery - costs between £2,000 and £2,500.

Dr Johnson is to reveal his technique on Monday to an international gathering of plastic surgeons at the World Congress on New Advances in Cosmetic Surgery.

He will also describe his no - scar tummy tucks where slack stomach muscles are stitched tighter under the skin, again using and endoscope but this time inserted via a small incision inside the pubic hair line.

It's just one of scores of new techniques to be revealed at the Congress, organised by top Harley Street cosmetic surgeon Mr Anthony Erian.

Dr Enrique Hernandez - Perez of El Salvador will speak on his process for injecting fat into male genitals to increase their size.