He had already managed to lose a stone in weight by himself, but to really see the results that he needed, he could not do it alone.

Mike, 58, said: "I was 16 stone 7lb when I joined the group and had lost a stone already.

"I had a heart bypass in 1998 and my weight was making me struggle.

"The doctor told me I desperately needed to lose weight so out of concern for my own health, I decided to do something about it."

Mike was soon switching from his favourite curries and red wine to lots of fruit and vegetables as well as drastically increasing the amount of exercise he did.

He said: "I joined Balance Health Club in Kettering and was swimming, but that seemed to stop working after a while so I started to walk a lot too.

"Now I go to the gym most mornings before work, then walk for an hour during my lunch break and then take my dog Mojo, who I bought especially to get me out of the house more, for walks on an evening when I get back.

"You have no excuse when you have a dog as you have to look after them as well as yourself."

The combination of the diet and exercise meant that Mike lost a further five stone and went from a 42in waist trouser size down to a 29in waist.

He reached his target weight of 12st in December and now Mike is focused on maintaining his achievement with the help of his WeightWatchers group.

He said: "I had looked at lots of other diets in the past but none of them were ever right for me, but WeightWatchers has helped me change my life, and so there is no way I'm going back to the way I was.

"I've spent so much money on new designer clothes that I would never have bought before I lost the weight and every time I dropped a size I gave them away to charity shops as an incentive not to go back.

"I do have the odd takeaway or glass of wine but now I just balance that out with more walking or time at the gym. It's all about getting the balance right.

"I'm really happy with myself now, and whereas before I would never look in the mirror, now I don't mind what I see.

"People I know have walked past me in the street as I look like a different person.

"Losing weight has been great for my health but also for my confidence."