A student who suffers with constant pain from her 32K breasts is raising funds for private surgery after being turned down for a second time because of her weight.

Laney Mesa-Gillman, 20, was devastated when she was told to lose three stone before she could be considered for an operation on the NHS.

She has suffered from years of back pain, as well as in her ribs and shoulders after developing large breasts at a young age. By the time she reached her late teens, her cup size had reached K.

The Gravesend resident says the pain is so bad she struggles to get out of bed some days.

"The back pain never stops," she added. "I have sores under my breasts which are incredibly uncomfortable.

"I have dents in my shoulders where my bra straps dig in, and these never go."

Laney, who is studying in Canterbury, first approached her GP surgery in March last year to ask about a breast reduction.

She was told she would need to go on a diet to get her BMI (body mass index) down to 27.

BMI is an approximate measure of whether someone is over or underweight, calculated by dividing their weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres.

Laney said losing that much weight would be "pretty much impossible" for her.

"I'm already quite active, I do my 10,000 steps a day, I work out three times a week and I eat healthily," she said.

"Most of my weight comes from my chest. I can't exercise properly because of my breasts being so big."

The former Saint George's School pupil added: "I didn't have self-esteem issues before that. I was quite a confident person. But now I can't look at myself in the mirror without seeing what I was told. The nurse was very unsympathetic, she just didn't care."

Despite feeling devastated, the Canterbury Christ Church University student refused to give up. She lost 6kg and, after moving house, and tried again with a different GP.

This time, she said the response was much more sympathetic. She was put on a weight-loss programme and referred to a specialist.

But three weeks ago, she got a letter to say she had been turned down for surgery once again because of her weight.

"I cried my eyes out," she said. "I just felt nothing but anger. They said I met all of the other criteria but my BMI was still too high."

The NHS says a patient's BMI needs to be 27 and stable for at least 12 months before breast reduction surgery.

A spokesman for NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group said: “Clinical decisions are always made in a patient’s best interests after considering the risks and benefits.

"Referral and treatment criteria are evidence based and on this occasion the patient did not meet eligibility criteria.

"If a patient does not meet eligibility criteria for a treatment or it is not normally funded, a GP or consultant can make an individual funding request. Details of how to do this are on our website.”

Laney has now decided to try to raise the £8,000 needed to pay for the operation privately.

She has set up a GoFundMe donation page and is selling paintings she has created to raise further funds.

Writing on her page, she said: "I am 20 and I struggle doing even the simplest of tasks, for this reason, I am fundraising but not for cosmetic reasons.

"I need this reduction on the basis of the constant agony in my back from carrying the extra two stone on my chest.

"Some days it hurts even getting out of bed, it feels like my lower back is slowly deteriorating and my upper back and shoulders are unable to cope with the weight.

"The effect doesn't just cause physical side effects but it also destroys my mental health."

To donate, click here.

Laney is also sharing her story on her Instgram page @LaneyFaithMesa to raise awareness and help other women like her.