Grandad Brian Semple has been battling with his weight since he was a teenager.

Now all his efforts have finally paid off. After losing more than 15 stone, he has just been named Slimming World’s Man of the Year, beating off 80 other slimmers from around the UK.

The 63-year-old rugby fan from Rochester, started gaining weight within months of leaving school at 16, and by the age of 17, weighed nearly 18st.

He said: “At 30 I became a pub landlord but lost my wife soon after and I turned to food and beer.

“At 35 I weighed 20 stone and had to give up playing my beloved rugby.”

By the time he turned 60, Brian admits he was “living on memories instead of living life”.

Brian recalls that even walking short distances was a trial.

“I remember sitting down 26 times when I just tried to walk a mile because my hips and knees were aching so much,” he said.

He struggled to cope with a suspected heart irregularity, high blood pressure and hip, knee and mobility problems.

Then his landlady, a Slimming World member, encouraged him to join his local group at St Justus Church, Rochester.

Brian swapped his diet of pasties and junk food for salads and stir-fries and achieved amazing results.

Brian took up walking, swimming and sessions in the gym as his weight has dropped from 28st 8lb to 15st 2lb.

His ultimate ambition is to help others to achieve the same.

He said: “I’d love to work as a Slimming World consultant and support other people to achieve the same life-changing benefits I’ve experienced.”