Professor Sir Kent Woods, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has defended the regulator's advice over faulty PIP implants.

"The handling was as accurate and as thorough as we could manage," he told Today presenter Evan Davis.

It is thought around 40,000 women in Britain have the implants.

But the rate of rupture in PIP implants is "not significantly different" to similar products, Professor Sir Kent Woods said.

Women should have the option to have PIP implants removed on "compassionate" rather than "risk/benefit" grounds, he added.

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