LIKE many young women, computer support technician Natalie Bee never liked wearing glasses - but her over-dependence on contact lenses ended up placing her eyesight in jeopardy.

"I wore them every day from first thing in the morning until 11 in the evening," she recalled.

"When I went to the optician, he said: 'If you don't cut down, you're going to ruin your eyes permanently'. That was when I started looking into laser eye surgery."

After researching the subject on the internet, Natalie went to Accuvision in London to see if she was suitable for Wavefront laser eye surgery. Investigation revealed that Natalie's cornea was damaged.

"My eyes were very dry. He gave me some eye drops and I had to put them in three times a day. I chucked my contact lenses away because he scared me so much. I had just got engaged and I had to wear glasses to my engagement party," said Natalie.

After a month, the damage and the dryness were gone. "They did the surgery that day. I was really nervous, but I was happy with the outcome. As soon as I got off the chair I could see.

"It didn't hurt but it was uncomfortable. There was smell like singed hair and afterwards my eyes were a bit gritty."

Natalie, 21, of Christchurch, had her revenge on her hated glasses. "When I came home from the surgery, I threw them on the floor and stamped in them," she admitted.

She had to keep her eyes closed for a few hours after the procedure, had to wear protective goggles at night, and use eye drops for a week.

But after about six months, she was told her sight - previously minus 5.75 diopters in each eye - was better than 20:20, generally reckoned to be perfect vision.

"It's made a lot of difference. Before, I would avoid swimming. I couldn't swim without having someone with me because I might have got lost. I just feel normal now. It's amazing," she said.

Laser eye surgery has taken off in popularity over the last few years, with celebrities such as former Spice Girl Mel B, golfer Tiger Woods and actress Courtney Cox among those to benefit.

The reason most people have to wear glasses or contact lenses is because their corneas are abnormally curved, preventing images from being focused correctly on the retina.

The result is long or short sightedness, astigmatism or presbyopia, sometimes known as ageing eyes.

This year an estimated 100,000 people in the UK are expected to undergo laser eye surgery to correct such problems. Most will have LASIK - laser assisted in situ keratamileusis - in which a flap is lifted from the surface of the eye and a laser used to reshape the cornea.

But in January, consumer publication Health Which? warned that not all potential LASIK patients were being told of the possible risks. Nor would everyone be able to throw away their glasses after undergoing the procedure.

Laser eye surgery may worsen dry eyes and cause problems with glare and night vision. It can also lead to a rare complication called corneal ectasia, where fluid pressure builds up in the eye. The condition can only be rectified by a corneal transplant.

The Health Which? investigation also revealed that any doctor could carry out the treatment after a few days training, and that no special qualifications were needed.

Accuvision, which pioneered Wavefront in the UK in December 2001, claims its technique is more likely to produce "supersight" and less likely to cause night vision disturbance and glare.

It uses a device that projects a fine grid of light beams on to the retina. The image is compared to one from a normal eye and the difference provides a "map" to programme the laser. The laser itself also has a finer beam than older lasers, enabling doctors to remove the minutest amounts of corneal tissue with greater precision.

Anyone thinking of undergoing LASIK is advised to check whether the person due to operate is a qualified eye surgeon (best of all, a corneal surgeon), what his or her complication rate is, and whether the surgeon sticks to Royal College of Ophthalmologists' guidelines.

Visit the website www.acuvision.co.uk for more information on Wavefront Guided Custom LASIK.