Cosmetic surgery clinics using "irresponsible" sales techniques, including one featuring a model with "anatomically impossible" breasts, were condemned by their own industry yesterday.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons has launched a campaign aimed at putting a stop to what it says are bad practices, such as digitally enhanced models and financial incentives for surgery.

The association highlighted a series of adverts used by clinics including the one with the "anatomically impossible" model.

A second advert offered a £250 discount to customers as an incentive to have the surgery quickly. A third offered a "lunchtime facelift", which the association said cannot be done and falsely raises expectations.

The association represents around one-third of cosmetic surgeons in the UK. It is not a regulatory body and so has no powers to take action against clinics. Instead it unveiled its own advertising campaign designed to help people make better choices about where to have their surgery.

Douglas McGeorge, president of the association and himself a consultant plastic surgeon, said: "Baaps has been increasingly concerned about the standard and style of today's cosmetic surgery advertising, designed to encourage and incentivise people to undergo procedures.

"Surgery is a serious undertaking which requires realistic expectations and should only proceed after proper consultation with a reputable and properly qualified clinician in an appropriate clinical setting."

The body, which has around 190 members, said the campaign was not a criticism of the standard of care provide by the clinics in the adverts but the marketing techniques used to draw patients in.

Many of the clinics have signed up to the Independent Healthcare Authority's code of practice, Good Medical Practice in Cosmetic Surgery.

The code states marketing materials should be designed to safeguard patients from unrealistic expectations and should also use real life and not professional models.

However, the association said that as the code is voluntary, it is flouted by many clinics.

Adam Searle, a former president of the organisation, said: "Plastic surgery, when used well, is the most powerful tool to improve patients' wellbeing. What it should not be used for is to make money. It is the patient who should benefit not the surgeon."

Referring to an advert featuring the anatomically incorrect woman in a bikini, Mr McGeorge said: "This lady's bottom appears very slim compared to her top. But if you look closely it is abnormal. It gives a completely false presentation of what can be done and sets unrealistic expectations. If a woman with that figure had that body we know she would have to engage in years of correctional surgery."

He added: "It would be lovely to have a lunchtime facelift. But it simply does not exist. The advert boasts celebrity clientele - is that a professional qualification?"

He said the organisation had been in contact with the Advertising Standards Authority to complain, but added: "The problem is that it is retrospective and the damage is already done."

Nigel Mercer, a plastic surgeon who practices in Bristol, said: "A lot of the trouble is with the way plastic surgery is marketed.

"I don't think that in a quarter page ad you can inform patients properly about the pros and cons of a procedure. You get people coming into clinics and saying I want this done' instead of saying I have this problem, what can I have done?' This is an area of very great concern. People are becoming very demanding, and that I think is in part down to the advertising."

Mr Mercer said that there were "very real" risks involved in the aggressive selling of plastic surgery procedures.

"I know of one lady who had a tummy tuck, breast augmentation and a facelift under one anaesthetic.

"That patient ended up with hemoglobin level of six. The normal level is 12 to 14 in a woman. If it goes any lower than seven, a blood transfusion can be required. In this case, the hard sell on plastic surgery led to a very real risk to life."

"We are in a very big industry and what share of the market is held by the big advertisers is very important."

Results into Britain's largest ever breast augmentation survey were also released at the conference. Figures show that 26,852 "boob jobs" were carried out between 2002 and 2007. UK operations rose by 275%, from 2361 in 2002 to 6497 in 2007.

Case study: 'The operation altered my life'

Former policewoman Lindsay Hunter had never been so low after suffering a near fatal 999 car crash and the subsequent breakdown of her marriage. A breast augmentation proved to be just the tonic to ease her low self esteem and body image problems.

Now enjoying a career as a model, Mrs Hunter said she had no regrets about the operation and described it as "giving her a life back"

following her personal traumas.

Mrs Hunter, 37, of Shawlands, Glasgow, said: "I was so down and really felt low about myself for so many reasons. I had no career and no self confidence. My ex-husband had an affair with another woman and the crash took it out of me really badly.

"I have always been very slight and I didn't feel feminine, more like a boy - I had serious body image problems. The operation has altered my life. It gave me a nice body and a career again."

The mother of five went from an AA bra cup to a 30F following the operation, a move which removed the need for gel filled cushions and Wonderbras.

"I didn't even have the wonder needed for a Wonderbra. I looked down following surgery and could not believe they were mine. I had planned to go to a C cup but just before surgery I said make them as big as you can'.

"I would say I am a lot more confident now. I got new boobs, and I got a new husband.

"I was surprised to find after the operation I still wear clothes that a flat chested woman would. I think it must just be my style. I always thought I would flaunt them in little tops but I really haven't. I am still quite modest on that front."