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Carl Thompson, who was dubbed the fattest man in Britain, died at his home in Dover, Kent earlier today.

Police, ambulances and fire crews were called to his house.

Neighbour Ronald Williams said it took emergency crews several hours to remove Thompson's body.

Thompson hit the headlines earlier this year after it was revealed he tipped the scales at 65 stone, making him Britain's heaviest man.

He reportedly spent £22,000 on takeaways over the last six years. It is believed his excessive binge eating caused his weight to skyrocket.

Doctors warned he faced death if he did not shed at least 45 stone.

After the medical warnings he appealed for help from the public to get down to his ideal weight of 20 stone.

He said: "Any professional opinion or other knowledge would be great.

"I've had a lot of that coming in anyway but the more the better."

Tragically Thompson, who was a major Arsenal fan, had spent more than 12 months housebound before his death today.

In a picture from his childhood Thompson was a picture of health as a toothy 10-year-old little boy.

But he said he always had a bad relationship with food, and even when he was young he would sneak downstairs at night and raid the kitchen cupboards.

He said: "I was only about three or four and no one knew why I did it. I would just eat anything out of the cupboards."

Many members of the public offered to help him lose weight, including grandmother Rosie McMonagle, 57, who started cooking him healthy meals last month.

He had also tried hypnotherapy in a desperate bid to shed the pounds.

But persistent depression and an ingrained eating disorder were at the root of his extreme binge eating.

He lived alone in Dover and carers came in and out twice a day to wash and look after him.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "Kent Police was called at 10.38am on 21 June to a property in Dofras Place, Dover, following reports that a man in his 30s had died.

"Officers do not believe the death to be suspicious.

"The coroner will be notified."