Gay men in Britain are fuelling a surge in demand for plastic surgery, with a quarter admitting to having gone under the knife already.

Despite the current economic crisis, the cosmetic surgery industry in Britain is booming, and a rise in demand for procedures such as nose jobs, liposuction and male breast reductions has been attributed to a surge in male requests.

A new survey of 1,000 men, conducted by Gay Times, found that 22% of gay men had resorted to plastic surgery, while 69% claimed that they would like to.

Regardless of sexual orientation, men were found to be a huge growth area in the market , with the Harley Medical Group seeing a 20% rise in male patients over the past five years, The Independent on Sunday reports.

Speaking to the paper, Liz Dale director of the group revealed, ‘Initially, men started coming in for nose jobs to correct sporting injuries, but the number of men coming in for liposuction and breast reduction has increased at an incredible rate over the last five years.

Read the full story from Marie Claire.