A WORLD first in hip replacement surgery will be brought into the UK from down under thanks to a medical consultant from Appleton.

Francis Egan, aged 28, of Bernard Avenue, is working with his Australian-based cousin, Michael, who has developed specially-designed tools to potentially revolutionise keyhole hip surgery.

Medicals experts from around the world are praising the new instruments that could give new leases of life to pensioners after early tests produced staggering results.

The Appleton man visited his cousin in Australia and together they forged a plan that will allow the Egans to distribute the medical tools to UK surgeons.

And Francis Egan revealed that the town's economy could receive a huge boost when personnel from Warrington are hired to put these new techniques into practice.

The duo will present the methods to the British Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons later this month and look set to herald a huge medical breakthrough.

Francis said: "My father had both hips replaced using the old method. He has two long scars on his legs, but now we just create a small two-inch incision.

"I've seen the pain that hip problems can cause to someone who is close to me. Unfortunately, this discovery has come a little late for my father, but if it helps, it's a great move forward."

And Michael told the Guardian: "We operated on a 99-year-old Sydney man and soon videoed him walking freely down his footpath. And a 65-year-old woman received a hip replacement using this treatment and was soon running up and down the house stairs!

"It's one of the most life-preserving techniques. It improves a person's quality of life."