Mother-of-three Victoria Emmanuel was confident she was in safe hands when she went into a top hospital for gastric bypass surgery.

But she was amazed to find she was to be the first in the country to have the operation carried out by a state-of-the art robot called Da Vinci.

Victoria, 29, underwent the procedure about six weeks ago. Since then, she has lost four stone and dropped four dress sizes.

Part-time care assistant Victoria, of Ordnance Street, Chatham, has described the hi-tech keyhole surgery as "life-changing".

She said: "I was severely obese and although a gastric bypass is serious surgery, it will improve my quality of life and I'm very happy."

Victoria's weight ballooned to 18 stone over the years because of constant cravings for sweet food and snacking in between meals.

She said: "When I was told about Da Vinci it was all explained very informatively and I felt comfortable with it. But at the time I didn't know I was the first in the country."

Sitting at a computer console, the surgeon performs the procedure with the aid of four robotic arms - acting as an extension of his hands and views the surgery site via a high definition 3D camera inside the machine.

Experts believe the robot can potentially reduce the risk of complications of gastric bypass surgery.

Victoria - mother to two girls and a boy, aged between six and nine years - said: "I have found it liberating and would recommend it to anyone who wants a better quality of life.

"I was on a liquid diet at first then a pureed diet. I'm now on soft foods, lots of mashed potato and soup. My aim is to have a proper Christmas dinner."

The second patient to have the robotic surgery on the same day was Susanne Moussa, from Northwood, Middlesex.

Krishna Moorthly, a consultant surgeon at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, said: "This type of surgery involves a lot of suturing [a stitching technique] which is performed laparoscopically [keyhole] and the robot enables the surgeon to do this with more accuracy, with potentially fewer complications."