Firefighters were forced to demolish a wall and use a forklift to carry a 56-stone (355 kilograms) sick man from his bed.

Paul Mason, 42, lived on a 20,000-calorie-a-day diet, equivalent to 81 hamburgers, said a report in The Express.

So obese that he could no longer move himself, Mr Mason was too heavy to be lifted when paramedics tried to take him to hospital for a hernia operation.