A man who was so overweight his knees could not support him has been crowned Slimming World’s Man of the Year after losing nine-and-a-half stone.

Trevor Sage weighed nearly 26 stone at his heaviest, and had been big since he was a child.

The 53-year-old, from Faversham, said: “I was always the last one picked for sport at school.

"When everyone else was picking football teams in the playground I would be the last one standing and I’d be shoved in goal.

“I’ve always been fat, all my life. My nickname at work was Large. At the time you just take it as a joke. You just put up with it.”

Even a stroke in 2012 did not scare the father-of-four enough to try to lose weight.

A turning point came last January when his knees and ankles became so painful that he saw a doctor who finally gave it to him straight.

Mr Sage, of Broomfield Road, said: “He said you’re 53, you’ve had substantial health issues, if we give you new knees they’re going to wear out in 15 years’ time and all you’re going to do is cost the NHS money.

"I sat there feeling quite embarrassed because he had to go and get a pair of large scales to weigh me.”

“He said go away and, if you can lose weight and you can prove you can lose weight, then we’ll put you in for a knee operation. I felt so ashamed.”

Trevor, who works as a production manager for a metal pressings firm in Sittingbourne, joined his wife at weekly Slimming World sessions.

Cutting foods high in fat and sugar out of his diet, and techniques such as keeping a food diary and tracking his weight online, helped him lose pounds straight away.

By May, Mr Sage had reached his target of 14 and a half stone.

“Mainly it’s just coaching you as you go along and trying to give you a boost.

“It’s a bit of a social club where you can have a chat and a bit of a laugh.

"And when you know you’re going to be weighed, you don’t want to have put 10 pounds on.

“You get new ideas. Now I know how to cook things which are completely fat free – quiche with no fat at all, Slimming World chips.”

And Trevor’s appearance changed so much that even relatives didn’t recognise him.

He said: “It’s changed my life and I feel so much better for it.

“I don’t get out of breath now, I can trot up the stairs. Before, I pulled myself up using the banister.

"When I went to people’s houses and they had chairs with arms, there was a feeling of horror and I would think am I going to fit? Am I going to break the arms off?

“And I can go and buy clothes from normal shops. I’ve gone from a 50-inch waist down to 34.”

As a result of attending Slimming World, where he now goes every week to help encourage other men to lose weight, Mr Sage has also taken up walking and gardening.

He grows vegetables such as onions and beetroots in his back garden.

“You’ve got to do everything,” he said.

“You’ve got to be in the right mindset and want to do it for yourself.”