A Barming slimmer who shed a quarter of his body weight in a year has become one of a few men in Britain to undergo a tummy tuck operation – aged just 21.

More than 3,000 woman underwent the procedure to trim their figures last year.

In comparison, only around 100 men go under the knife annually and retail assistant Josh Fraser didn’t expect to be one of them.

Josh, of Springwood Road, Barming, spent £12,600 on the procedure.

He said: “I used to be very overweight and I was constantly embarrassed and ashamed of my body, to the point where if I heard people laughing I would convince myself they were laughing at me.

“I wouldn’t go swimming or to theme parks because I’d be so scared of being too big for the rides and facing the shame of being turned away at the front of the queue.”

Josh weighed in at 23½ stone before he lost six-and-a-half stone in one year through a calorie-controlled diet and sheer willpower.

His big appetite and love of junk food had caused him to be overweight since childhood.

But the joy of his extreme weight loss was short-lived when he was left with an unsightly overhang of stomach skin.

He tried everything, from the gym to an intense home fitness programme, before turning to more drastic measures.

Josh, who works at Sainsbury’s petrol station in Aylesford explained: “I began to feel sick at the sight of the excess skin that the weight loss had left me with.

“Despite losing all that weight, I still had to wear baggy clothes and layers just to hide it, so even in the middle of summer I wouldn’t leave the house without a jacket on.

"I couldn’t go swimming, wear tight tops, or even talk to girls; my confidence was that dented.

“My family could see how depressed I was feeling and so my mum lent me the money for the operation that she had received through inheritance.”

Tunbridge Wells-based surgeon Brent Tanner carried out the abdominoplasty, otherwise known as a tummy tuck. The procedure removes excess skin and fat was removed from his waistline, hips and back.

Josh said: “I was amazed at how flat my stomach looked; prior to surgery I honestly couldn’t see how they could fix it.

"I finally feel I look good and am no longer being judged by other people. I feel like a new man; nothing is impossible anymore.”

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