A Brit who was officially the fattest man in the world has died, it emerged today. Keith Martin - who weighed an astonishing 70 stone at his heaviest - died from pneumonia following a lengthy battle with his weight.

His death at the age of 44 came just eight months after Keith had undergone a successful gastric sleeve which removed three-quarters of his stomach.

Speaking today, the surgeon who tried to save his life with life-changing weight-loss surgery is calling for the government to swiftly impose a fast-food tax. Unemployed Keith admitted much of the weight had come from eating huge amounts of super-cheap fast food.

He would gorge on 20,000 calories a day - almost 10 times the recommended amount - having six-egg fry-ups for breakfast then pizzas, kebabs, Chinese takeaways and Big Macs for lunch and dinner all washed down with six pints of coffee and two litres of fizzy drinks.

He blamed the bingeing on depression and anxiety which he developed after his mother died - also of pneumonia - when he was 16.

Keith, who used to spend his days playing video games and watching TV, explained in 2012: "I started eating to ease the pain and before I knew it, I was binging every time something upset me. "I've always been depressed. I am an agoraphobic - I'm afraid of public places - but it was never treated. "I just want to be happy, without needing food to make me happy."