A Winchester man flew 10,000 miles to India for a hip operation he was told he would have to wait up to two years for if he stayed in Britain.

Ian Crombie, 65, was faced with paying £15,000 for private treatment, so instead he opted to fly to India to have the operation - done within a week for a third of the British price. Now Mr Crombie, a retired personnel manager, is praising the Indian option.

He said today: "I have no hesitation or qualms in recommending it. The whole team there was fantastic."

Last May he was working in Nigeria for a gas company. Whilst playing a round of golf he felt pain and limped off the course. Mr Crombie visited his company doctor. "He gave me a scan and he said 'I'm surprised you're still walking.'"

Mr Crombie explained why he had decided to go private in Chennai.

"Firstly, I was in a lot of pain. Second, I was told the NHS waiting list was 18 months to two years and thirdly, the cost of private in the UK was exorbitant.

"Five or six years ago I read about India being an up and coming health care centre. I have lived abroad for 40 years and in India, and using the Internet I did my homework on the surgeon and the hospital. The surgeon, Vijay Bose, was British-trained on the procedure I needed, a hip resurfacing operation."

Mr Crombie, of Sycamore Drive, Kings Worthy, had the operation last autumn and after a week-long stay in hospital and two-week recuperation in a hotel, has returned home. The operation cost £3,000 and living expenses £2,000, a fraction of the price of private care in this country.

It was such a success that he was back playing golf last month.

He said: "Colleagues told me that I must be nuts to consider India, but since then a colleague at my company in Nigeria has gone there to have a knee replacement."

A spokesman for the Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust said Mr Crombie would not have had to wait 18 months for an operation.

The target for in-patient surgery is nine months and during 2003-04 that target was being met.