World's heaviest man is 70-stone Briton who needs Chinook airlift for life-saving operation

Doctors fighting to save the life of the world's heaviest man are considering calling in an RAF Chinook helicopter to move him 150 miles to a specialist centre that will treat him.

Paul Mason, who weighs 70 stone, needs the help of weight-loss doctors and possible surgery to lose tens of stones.

But the treatment will have to take place in Chichester, West Sussex, a considerable distance from his home in Ipswich.

Comforts: 70 stone man Paul Mason lies in his bed surrounded by everything he needs to get through the day

The Health Service has introduced a number of the specialist ambulances designed to transport massively overweight patients but it is not clear if one can be made available to take 48-year-old Mr Mason to Chichester.

Health chiefs are therefore considering a number of alternative ways to transport him there, including using a Chinook.

Mr Mason, who has made numerous unsuccessful attempts to shed weight permanently and is now virtually immobile, lives in bungalow with a 4ft-wide front door.

If a cargo helicopter were used to take him to Chichester, the operation would probably involve moving him from his home in a specially reinforced wheelchair or stretcher to a nearby clearing where the helicopter would be able to land.

Paul Mason (right) is pictured here in 2007, when he weighed 45-stone. He was able to go out on his own in a specially-modified wheelchair, but his weight has since ballooned to an incredible 70 stone

Several paramedics would then be needed to push Mr Mason - possibly with electronic assistance - along the loading ramp into the aircraft.

Mr Mason, a former engineer who suffers from food addiction, has previously admitted tucking into three family-sized takeaways every day - equivalent to around 20,000 calories. A typical adult male needs around 2,500 calories a day.

His weight had soared to 62 stone before he managed to drop to 45 stone in 2007. But he has has since put on another 25.

In 2002, when he needed to visit a local hospital for a hernia operation, he had to be lifted out of his home by a forklift truck.

Paul Mason's former house in Ipswich had an extra-wide front door to enable him to get his wheelchair out. In 2002 he was 'rescued' from the property by firefighters

Paramedics who arrived to take him to the hospital had to call the fire service, who were unable lift him on to a stretcher and carry him out of the council flat he shared with his widowed mother, Janet.

In the end they used building tools to remove his bedroom window and a row of bricks before knocking down a neighbour's wall to be able to drive the vehicle up to the opening.

The firemen then placed a series of straps under him so that he could be lifted up by the forklift truck and placed in an ambulance with specially lowered suspension to make it easier for him to be moved in and out.

Since then, when he has been mobile, Mr Mason has used a specially-made wheelchair, one metre in wide, to get around.