A pensioner is enjoying a new lease of life after being able to hear again for the first time in 20 years – thanks to an advert in a magazine.

Former firefighter Michael Spice, from Larkfield, had to quit the fire service in 1996 after becoming profoundly deaf.

Mr Spice, 71, said: “Obviously, it was potentially dangerous, so I couldn’t carry on.”

Over the years, he endured several operations and countless hearing-aid fittings to no avail.

Then he saw an advertisement in Shout!, the firefighters’ service charity magazine, for a new type of hearing aid from America.

Called the Starkey, it has increased Mr Spice’s effective hearing by 70 decibels.

He said: “It’s made a hell of a difference. It was so much better than those I had been given by the NHS.

“I heard birdsong again for the first time in ages.

“Before I was lucky to catch one word in half a dozen. I had begun to withdraw and become a recluse.”

His wife Maggie was equally relieved. She said: “I've been his spokesman for two decades.

"Before I was lucky to catch one word in half a dozen... I had begun to withdraw and become a recluse" - Michael Spice

"It’s so wonderful to hear him hold a normal conversation again.

“He still has a little difficulty using the telephone, particularly if its someone with a Scots accent, but now he can hold a conversation, and that’s something which he hasn’t been able to do for years.”

He said he had suffered with hearing problems since childhood, but it progressively worsened towards the end of his service with the brigade.

Mr Spice, of Cygnet Close, said: “I had always had trouble with my hearing, but I think the job affected it too.

“If a car is on fire, for example, quite often the alarm goes off and you have to work alongside the noise.

“And we weren’t issued with ear protectors in my day.”

Mr Spice avoided any serious injury during his 26 years’ service, but did on several occasions suffer burns to the tops of ears.

He said: “They were an area that was unprotected by our old uniforms."