The Tatton MP, who was given an artificial hip on Thursday, was discharged from the Royal Free Hospital - with the aid of a walking stick.

Following the successful one-and-a-half hour operation to replace his right hip, the former war correspondent gingerly tested it for the first time on Saturday.

But he didn't expect it to be functioning properly for at least a week and would be using a stick 'for the time being'.

On Monday, Mr Bell, who has osteo-arthritis, telephoned the Knutsford Guardian from his NHS hospital bed to say all was well - and he was being well looked after.

The ex-BBC journalist, who had been hit by shrapnel in Sarajevo in August 1992, had been told he needed a new hip by the surgeon who treated him then.

"In hospital, following operations to remove the shrapnel, the surgeon told me I was going to be all right, even though there was still some left inside me," he said.

"And by the way, he said, you have got a degenerative disease of the hip and you will need a replacement."

The MP will undergo a similar operation on his failing left hip in about two years.

The procedure involves a surgeon making an incision through his muscle to remove a small piece of bone so the joint can be dislocated.

The damaged ball and socket would then have been removed and replaced by an artificial one - either metal or ceramic.

His socket would have been cleaned, relined and the muscle restitched.

On Monday Mr Bell called the Knutsford Guardian from the Royal Free Hospital in London.

He said he was doing fine, but was looking forward to some home cooking.

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