Surgeons say they could now carry out a face transplant

However, it is expected to say more research is needed into the ethical and psychological aspects of such a procedure before it is carried out.

The report comes a week after surgeons revealed they were now in a position to carry out the operation.

It comes ahead of the first public debate on the issue later on Wednesday.

Surgeons in Britain, the United States and France say they could now carry out a face transplant, largely because of advances in anti-rejection drugs.

Doctors in the US and France are awaiting regulatory approval to carry out the operation.

British surgeons have said they will not carry out the procedure until the public has debated the ethical issues around it.

Dead donor

The technique would involve removing facial muscles and skin from a dead donor and placing them on a living person.

The proposed procedure is controversial. Surgeons have acknowledged that they will need public support to carry it out.

I don't think there is anything about my appearance that I would desperately want to change Marc Crank 'I don't want a face transplant'

They hope the royal college report and a public debate at the new Dana Centre at London's Science Museum will kick start discussions.

Dr John Barker, a leading plastic surgeon from the University of Louisiana, is one of those speaking at the Dana Centre lecture.

Speaking ahead of the debate, he said the myth's surrounding face transplants need to be dispelled.

"This isn't Face Off," he said, referring to a recent movie staring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage.

"We need to get across the complexities of this medical advance and dismiss the myths that have been reported.

"For example, the first face transplant recipients will not necessarily look like the donor.

"Our research in human cadavers shows that transplanting the skin and underlying soft tissues from one individual onto the facial bony structure of another results in an appearance different from the donor and the recipient."

He acknowledged there were psychological questions over how the patient would cope with having another face.

But he added: "The only way you can answer those questions is by doing it on a human being."

He said it was right to press ahead with the operations, arguing: "The benefit that somebody who has a severe facial disfigurement will gain from getting a transplant is tremendous."

Psychological element

However, James Partridge, chief executive of the charity Changing Faces, said more research is needed before any operations can go ahead.

"Psychologically, I think face transplants are very different to having somebody's kidney or liver," he told the BBC.

"To take somebody's face is to take part of their identify and to lose part of yours."

He added: "I would certainly want a lot more research into what the impact of that would be."

Mark Crank, who is facially disfigured, said he would never consider having a transplant.

"I don't think there is anything about my appearance that I would desperately want to change," he said.