A young man who lost 18 stone in just over a year is planning to undergo surgery to remove loose skin caused by his dramatic weight loss.

Jack Towers, a customer care assistant at the Brakes food company, joined Slimming World after doctors warned he was close to developing diabetes.

He weighed 34 stone when he started the weight loss plan in January last year but has now reached his target weight of 15 stone after sticking to it for over a year.

Now the 21-year-old is planning to have a full body lift to remove the loose skin.

The surgery, which is not available on the NHS, is going to cost £25,000.

"I have thought about having the loose skin surgery ever since I have lost weight," Mr Towers said.

"I have had a couple of private consultations after being told that there is no funding available on the NHS.

"It can be a risky surgery as it is a full body lift, which can be quite intense."

After publishing a post on social media about the cost of the surgery, one of Jack's followers saw the post and set up a fundraising page.

So far, more than £2,800 has been raised by almost 400 people.

The Ashford resident, of Hillbrow Lane, said: "I wrote a post about how much the loose skin surgery was going to cost and one of my followers set up a fundraising page.

"The limit is £35,000 and the operation will cost around £25,000, so any left over money will be donated to charity."

Jack has more than 89,000 people following his Instagram account (@towers_weightjourney).

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