A surgeon at a Bingley hospital has helped to treat injured England striker Michael Owen.

The stricken star flew by helicopter to the privately-owned Capio Yorkshire Clinic where groin and hernia specialist Ernest Schilders' diagnosis that he would need surgery means he will miss next month's vital Euro 2008 qualifying matches against Russia and Estonia.

Mr Schilders said he could not comment on his assessment of the multi-millionaire Newcastle United player's injury due to patient confidentiality.

But it is understood that Mr Owen, 27, who hobbled out of Newcastle's 3-1 defeat of West Ham last weekend, will now travel to Munich for an operation by renowned German hernia surgeon Dr Ulrike Muschaweck and will be out of action for at least three weeks.