Three patients a week, on average, in Glasgow are having a body part amputated due to diabetes.

Official health board figures show Greater Glasgow hospitals have carried out more than 750 amputations on diabetic patients in the last five years.

Toes and legs are the most common to be lost due to complications with diabetes.

Last year surgeons removed 99 toes and 66 legs.

The figures were obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, who said a growing obesity crisis was part of the problem.

The figures also show people losing feet, hands and arms but in far smaller numbers.

Across Scotland there were more than 2500 diabetic patients receiving amputations.

Annie Wells, conservative health spokeswoman, said: “It’s now well-established that obesity is one of the biggest challenges facing our NHS.

“Of course, there are a number of reasons people can develop diabetes, but it’s also accepted that rising obesity levels will increase the rates of the illness.

“The fact hundreds of people each year are having to go through the trauma of limb amputation shows just how serious a problem this is.”

Ms Wells, a Glasgow MSP, called for improved education around the health risks of obesity.

She added: “We need to see all agencies working together to ensure the vital health education messages are getting through, especially to children, and that personal responsibility is brought front and centre.

“If this doesn’t happen, our NHS is going to struggle even more severely in future, and lives will be badly limited in the process.”

The Glasgow figures include 370 toes and 354 legs over five years.

The health board released the figures showing the number of diabetc pateints who had amputations in the last five years however it stated that the reason for amputation was not given, meaning not every single case was due to diabetes.

The loss of a limb particularly toes and legs is a

Diabetes can cause peripheral artery disease (PAD) which causes the blood vessels to narrow and reduces blood flow to the legs and feet.

PAD causes nerve damage and numbness and people may not realise they have a cut or an ulcer which can become infected if not treated, leading to amputation.