A FATHER-of-three who lost more than 11 stone after his family feared for his health is hoping to inspire others to shed the pounds.

Tony Cohen used to play for Kenton Jewish Youth Club and Stanmore Cricket Club when he was younger but a more sedentary lifestyle and the need to recovery from surgery led him to grow to just under 30 stones.

However, he has had so much success after joining Slimming World’s weekly Edgware group in September 2011, that he has set up his own branch of the group, which will start meeting at St Lawrence Church Hall in Whitchurch Lane, Edgware, on March 14.

The 50-year-old insurance broker, of Broadfields Avenue, Edgware, said: “I played football for a team called Kenton Jewish Youth Club in the 1980s and 90s, going into the early 2000s and I played cricket for Alexandra Park Cricket Club in Wood Green, north London, to quite a high level.

“I was active but when you stop playing as much as you did, the weight eventually piles on. You get injuries, you become more sedentary, you have kids and you stop taking care of yourself. You think you’re still active – but you’re not.”

The weight gain was compounded when Mr Cohen, who lives with wife Sue, 51, sons Daniel, 21, and Simeon, 17, and daughter Aliza, 13, had a hip replacement in 2007 after an undiagnosed congenital hip problem left him barely able to walk.

“I couldn’t walk for more than 100 yards and I’d be puffed out,” he said.

“My family kept getting on to me about my weight. My mum said she didn’t want to bury me and she would pay for a gastric band operation.

“I kept being embarrassed by my size. My wife and I were invited to a wedding overseas and I was so big I had to take up three quarters of two seats and the seat belt was not big enough, so I had to use the one designed for pregnant women.

“One day I just said, ‘Okay, I’m not prepared for this anymore. I have to do something for myself’.”

Mr Cohen joined Slimming World where he learned to eat more healthily and was encouraged to reintroduce exercise into his life.

He lost an impressive 11st 7lbs in 18 months and scooped the Edgware group’s Biggest Loser Award.

He said: “Everybody’s said I’ve become an inspiration to them. I’m living proof you can do it. There’s nothing to stop you.”