A city doctor has said new legislation to ban people giving Botox and fillers to under 18 is a "fantastic first step" — but there's still a long way to go.

On October 1, it became a criminal offence to administer Botox or filler injections for a cosmetic purpose to anyone under 18 in England, even if they have the permission of someone over 18.

The Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021 also made it an offence to book an appointment to provide these treatments, putting the onus on providers to do proper background checks on their clients.

Dr Ryan Taylor, owner of Norwich Aesthetics Clinic, said until this act came in to force people who dabbled in aesthetics were a law until themselves and could take money from anyone who was willing to pay.

He said: "This is a fantastic first step. There was nothing enshrined in law regulating the aesthetics industry before now.

"It's grown so fast in the past ten years and it's been a struggle for law makers to keep up.

"At my practice it's mainly rejuvenative work we do for older people but there is also some facial augmentation requests from people who are maybe in their early 20s.

"Doctors and nurses who administer aesthetics will always apply the medical model: so we'll assess whether someone will actually benefit from the treatment they want. If not, we'll advise against it.

"That means we'd never give treatments to someone under 18. They're still children, and their faces are changing. The filler might even end up migrating elsewhere as their faces develop.

"As medical professionals we are also able to assess for signs of body dysmorphia. For example, we can check whether young people are seeing problems that aren't actually there.

"My concern is that beauticians and hairdressers offering these injections do not follow the same medical model."

He added: "Children are being influenced by social media to get that Kylie Jenner "Instagram face" and it's very worrying.

"This new law is a fantastic first step, but the next one should be banning beauticians and hairdressers from injecting fillers. It should be doctors and nurses only."

If you know someone illegally giving injections to children, contact Trading Standards at Norfolk County Council.