THIS man fears he could be dead by 60 unless he gets life-saving obesity surgery, but health bosses have just knocked him off the waiting list.

Dad-of-two Philip Cooper, 40, from Woodthorpe, in York, has been waiting for a gastric band operation at York hospital for two years.

At 20 stone, he is clinically obese and also suffers from diabetes. A surgeon told him that, without the operation, Mr Cooper was unlikely to live to 60. But with it, he would have a chance of living another 15 or 20 years beyond that.

But now Mr Cooper has been hit with a devastating blow after receiving a letter telling him that the debt-ridden North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) had suspended the operation he longs for - and that he would be removed from the waiting list.

He said: "I want it, I need it, I want to see my kids, I want to see my grand-kids," he said.

"I could be dead before I'm 60. I've got a five month-old - I may not even see him get to 21.

"I'm annoyed, I'm angry, I'm upset for what I could lose, and I'm annoyed with the Government for letting it happen like this. It's a disgrace.

"I've worked for nothing. I've paid my National Insurance and everything, my taxes, but I've paid for nothing because they are riding straight over the top of me."

Mr Cooper said he had tried many different methods of losing weight, but none had worked.

He was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 28 and has been around 20 stone for some years. He was first referred for surgery at York hospital two years ago, but nothing happened until this year, when he went back to inquire about his operation.

He was put on the waiting list for surgery in September, but got a letter just before Christmas telling him all obesity operations had been suspended until further notice.

The letter advised him to contact his GP if he considered himself to be a special case.

Last year, The Press reported how the PCT was asking GPs not to refer patients for obesity surgery while they carried out a review.

The move was branded unfair by medics, as it meant patients from Wakefield and Leeds could be given stomach surgery in York while local people could not.

Dr Jonathan Thow, lead clinician for York hospital's endocrine directorate - which deals with the hormonal causes of obesity - said: "For some people, this operation may be life-saving and he (Mr Cooper) is in a category of patient for whom we think the operation is very suitable.

"It seems inappropriate to suspend the surgery for all people, we can understand perhaps why it's not available for some.

"We all agree that this surgery is essential and certainly not for cosmetic reasons, and we would want someone like him to have this surgery."

North Yorkshire and York PCT has said its review into obesity surgery was looking into whether hospitals providing the service were meeting national guidelines.

A spokesman has said there was an exceptions procedure for urgent cases.