THIRTY-ONE stone Ted Whitlock, of Chippenham, starred in a BBC documentary on Tuesday, called Diet or Die.

Mr Whitlock, 44, a resident at the Pines Hotel in Marshfield Road, said he was pleased with the way the Inside Story programme worked out and he agreed with the title.

He fears for his life if he can not get his weight under control.

"It was very well done," he said.

"Though I wish they hadn't included all the bits with me passing wind. I didn't realise the microphone was on."

And Mr Whitlock's accounts of his diet regime to his nurse were proved to be less than accurate. "It was the only thing I wasn't honest about," he admitted.

Mr Whitlock was shown eating takeaways and fried breakfasts and drinking three or four pints of beer a night, then telling the nurse he was eating cereal and drinking diet Coke.

"It was true what they said diet or die," he said. "I get out of breath just walking to the toilet."

The programme featured two other morbidly obese people Linda Early, who weighs more than 40 stone and hasn't left her flat for five years, and Sarah Cox, who had an operation to restrict her stomach size.

"I admired Linda for trying to make the effort to get out of her house," said Mr Whitlock. "She is a nice lady."

Now friends staying at the Pines Hotel say they are keen to help Mr Whitlock lose weight and improve his health by refusing to buy him food and takeaways and insisting he walks to the bar to buy his drinks himself.