Plastic surgery programmes have become popular

Flesh was seen being lifted out of a patient and put on a trolley during a tummy tuck operation on Brand New You, shown in May and June 2005.

Doctors were also shown cutting flesh with surgical scissors.

"There are children who would be disturbed and upset by the shots outlined above," Ofcom ruled.

A number of viewers complained about the scenes.

Five defended the series, saying care had been taken to ensure that images were not gratuitous and were no more explicit than similar programmes.

It also said that it had broadcast an announcement before the show to warn people about its contents.

Sensitive

But Ofcom rejected the channel's defence.

"While the vast majority of the shots used in the programme were acceptable from the time of broadcast, the particular scenes of surgery referred to above were unexpected before the watershed," it added.

The programme had advertised "scenes of invasive total body surgery" which were "definitely not for the squeamish".

Ofcom ruled that while not all adults or children would be disturbed and upset by the show, some children would be.

"We consider this to be different to an adult displaying 'squeamishness'," Ofcom said.