A super-slimmer who shed a remarkable 15 stone in four years is set to run the London Marathon next month.

Dad-of-two Dave Winchester, from Singleton in Ashford, dropped from a size 6XL to a medium after being motivated by a conversation at his father-in-law's wake.

Now Mr Winchester, who at his biggest weighed 27 stone, will be taking on the April 23 race around the streets of the capital as part of a Slimming World team raising cash for Cancer Research UK.

His running journey began prior to the pandemic when he started with a local 5k - where previously he could barely manage to walk 1k without having to stop to catch his breath.

"I am doing things I could never have dreamed of a few years ago," he said.

"I set myself small goals throughout this journey. At the time they seemed big goals, such as getting out to ride a bike again and going to my local Parkrun with my friends and family.

"In 2019 I participated in my first Parkrun.

'Men don't talk about dieting...'

"I was very nervous turning up. The mental side of the journey was once again creeping in and I was worried everyone would be staring at me, making fun of me and I was also not sure I would be able to complete the run.

"Obviously, it was nothing like this, it is just a big group of people who like to start their weekend off with a jog or walk around the local park and many of them sticking around for coffee and cake after."

Mr Winchester is aiming to raise £2,000 for charity and has already got half way to his total via his Just Giving page.

He started shedding the pounds two weeks after his father-in-law's wake when he joined an online Slimming World Group without anyone knowing.

He said he was too embarrassed to join an in-person group because there's a stigma that men do not do Slimming World.

"Men don't talk about dieting," he said.

"It's all in the head though, you're constantly judging yourself and not wanting to do things because you think everyone else is judging you, but they're not."