A medical team has successfully completed its first procedure to treat non-cancerous tumours in the womb whose sufferers include a Grammy-nominated singer.

Consultants at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow treat the painful fibroids which affects thousands of women a year, by starving them of blood.

The benign yet painful tumours, which can range in size from 1-10cm in diameter, are particularly common among Afro-Caribbean women and often result in heavy bleeding and urinary tract problems that can require removal of the womb.

Fibroids are normally removed using surgery, but these new minimally invasive procedures involve depriving the fibroid of a supply of blood until it shrinks.

Singer, FKA Twigs, spoke about her own battle on May 16 when she revealed she had recently undergone the surgical procedure called uterine fibroid embolisation.

Twigs, 30, had six fibroids removed which she described as “the size of two cooking apples, three kiwis and a couple of strawberries.”

Under this new procedure, particles are administered via a tube through the groin to the affected area which limits the blood supply. Over several weeks, the fibroid softens and shrinks to a negligible size.

Mr Selva Theivacumar, deputy clinical director of West London Vascular and Interventional Centre, said: "Interventional radiologists in our department are now carrying out this minimally invasive procedure to treat fibroids at Northwick Park Hospital. 

“Consultants Dr Peter Schnatterbeck and Dr Sharmini Desigan are leading this service and the procedure takes about an hour or two with patients usually home the following day. 

“It is particularly useful as an alternative for patients who can’t have surgery because of other health issues.

“We expect to be carrying out several hundred of these procedures a year once we are up to speed.”

Northwick Park Hospital is part of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust which is one of the largest integrated healthcare trusts in the country, providing services to Harrow, Brent and Ealing.