Sprawled out horizontally, 57st Paul Mason takes viewers through his colossal 20,000 calorie-a-day intake.

Breakfast for the Ipswich man used to consist of four sausages, four eggs, two pieces of fried bread and hash browns.

Mid-morning snacking would see him polish off sausage rolls and pastries before tucking into a fish-and-chip takeaway lunch.

He would also consume bag after bag of crisps, munch his way through around 30 to 40 chocolate bars and then finish it off with another takeaway in the evening.

The 49-year-old, whose weight was once 70st, was the subject of Britain’s Fattest Man documentary on Channel 4 last night.

It made for compulsive viewing as the television crew followed him on his journey through life-changing surgery to have a major gastric bypass operation. Experts face several challenges around his size: there are concerns whether the hospital floors and operating table will be able to take his weight; at one point they consider airlifting him to hospital in a helicopter.

While some will be outraged by his �2,000-a-week care bill, viewers of the programme will have felt some sympathy.

He openly admits to hating himself for not controlling his eating and later it appears his only friend is a visitor from the Salvation Army.

But months after the life-threatening operation impressive progress is being made: he’s shed 18 stone and is consuming just 1,200 calories a day.

So while the programme may have provided shock, anger or amusement for viewers, by the end the one smiling the widest was a slimmer Mr Mason.