Three Italian surgeons were jailed today for carrying out unnecessary operations, including amputations, to make money from the state health system.

A court in Milan was told they operated more than 80 times just for personal gain.

The chief surgeon, Pier Apollo Berg Mason, received the stiffest sentence of 15 and a half years. He was accused of "causing pain through unnecessary surgery" with the sole aim of "professional and economic gain."

Two other former surgeons at the Santa Rita clinic were sentenced to six and 10 years in prison.