A mum-of-two with a “fear of food” has revealed that she’s been living off cheese sandwiches for almost 30 years.

April Griffiths, 29, has a severe food phobia, and experiences intense anxiety at even the thought of eating food that isn’t a cheese sandwich.

In a bid to overcome her mealtime phobia, the mum has forked out a fortune on hypnotherapy sessions, but nothing has been able to cure her of the obsession.

Griffiths, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, said: "Every time I attempt to try new things, I have a panic attack, my whole body begins to shake, and I am terribly nervous.

"The fear of choking and experiencing a different texture of food scares me and even though I have tried to eat pea-size portions of rice, pasta or vegetables, I have never been able to swallow it without throwing up.”

She said she finds it very awkward going out for meals with new people because she has to explain why she’s ordering a cheese sandwich.

April Griffiths, 29, has an eating phobia likely developed when she was little. (SWNS) More

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The phobia has affected her relationships too.

"When I first met my partner of nine years, Leigh Kendall, 34, I had to pre-warn him about my food phobia to save myself of the embarrassment on our first date,” she said.

Though Kendall attempted to encourage Griffiths to try some new foods, she never managed to do so. She has now resigned herself to the possibility that this might be the diet she lives off for the rest of her life.

April, her partner Leigh and their two children [Photo: Caters] More

"I am bored of cheese sandwiches but even with years of counselling, I am unable to overcome my phobia,” she said.

Even the way the cheese is prepared has an impact on whether Griffiths can eat it.

"Sometimes I have a cheese toastie to mix it up, but I must eat it when the cheese is hot because I start to gag when it cools down and the texture changes,” she said.

“It sounds silly but if I have sliced cheese I have to avoid thinking about it because the texture is completely different to my usual grated cheese sandwich.

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