IMAGINE being so desperate for a sugar fix you would drink a melted Mars Bar.

Horror stories like this are not a million miles away from some of the clients Dartford-based hypnotherapist Gareth Sammer treats on a regular basis.

Patients who have had gastric band surgery to reduce the capacity of their stomachs may not be able to eat as much, but often the cravings for fatty foods remain.

This is where Mr Sammer comes in.

From his home in Invicta Road, the 33-year-old offers gastric band hypnotherapy to overweight clients keen to fight the flab by reducing their desire to eat.

He said: "Surgery can alter what people can eat but not what they want to eat.

"They still have that desire to want that food and that doesn’t go away just because they can’t physically have it."

The former Coca-Cola customer services worker offers three-stage gastric band hypnotherapy to convince clients they have had the surgery and help them control their appetites.

The first session tries to change how people perceive food, the second involves the actual ‘operation’ and the third reinforces the lessons learned in the previous two.

I sat down for session one with the white, fluffy hypnosis pillow recommended by Gareth on which to rest my hands.

These same fingers were heavy and almost numb by the time he had finished after around 45 minutes which felt more like 20.

Ten descending steps to relaxation were followed by an imaginary voyage around my body in a craft whose control panel featured two dials: one to increase my motivation to exercise, and the other to raise my desire to eat healthy foods.

Having turned both up to the maximum my subconscious mind jotted down a few naughty treats to avoid on a phantom clipboard, and we were done.

At £299 the course is not cheap, but Gareth says the cost to his clients - one of whom he claims has lost three stone thanks to the procedure - is recouped over time by cutting down on all that junk food.

I felt pleasantly relaxed and woozy after my session but will it help me cut back on all those chocolate fingers?

Watch this - donut-shaped - space.

Contact Gareth Sammer on 07929 118250, via ukpsychotherapy@yahoo.co.uk, or visit uk-psychotherapy.com