As a teenager seeking his first place at a school for young pianists, Nicholas McCarthy was refused an audition and told he would never succeed.

Having one hand, the head teacher told him, would always hold him back and it was better not to waste his and other people's time.

While some might have given up, Mr McCarthy, from Surrey, went on to become the first one-handed pianist known to have graduated from the Royal College of Music.

Now, he is pursuing a professional music career.