A 25-STONE Worcestershire man who has been battling against obesity for years has spoken of his heartache at being dumped by his wife.

In February 2003, Graeme and Rosemarie Williams and daughters Nadia and Carrie Anne appeared on BBC1's Inside Out, in a family bid to fight the flab.

Despite health fears, and advice from experts about diet, Mr Williams failed to lose a significant amount of weight. Two years later, Mrs Williams told her husband, who was then 28 stone, that she would divorce him if he didn't slim, but it didn't work.

Mr Williams said: "Rosemarie was the best thing that ever happened to me and I have lost her. We will always remain friends and are both involved with the Sea Cadets, but I know it's over for good between us."

Mrs Williams said: "At the end of the day things just didn't work out. It's not just that Graeme was too fat, it was because his condition put such a restriction on the rest of the family. There were so many things we and the girls couldn't do together.

"We have two dogs and love going for walks over the hills, but Graeme couldn't manage that. We also love swimming, but he never wanted to go.

"In the end the strain was too much. We parted last September on good terms and we are still good friends but it's finally over, we won't get back together again. I think he might manage better on his own and I wish him all the best."

Mr Williams, who is now living in Harvington, near Evesham, suffers from heart and kidney problems and diabetes. He now weighs just over 25 stone, but he hasn't given up trying to diet. He said: "I have lost about 3lbs in the last month, and want to keep it up over a long period." Mrs Williams said her own dieting has been going well. She said: "I was 16 stone and am now down to 14. I know that if I lose weight slowly it will stay off."

Comments on this story are now suspended due to the offensive nature of some content.