A mother-of-one was left ‘speechless’ after doctors removed a foot-long hairball from her stomach that weighed a stone.

Sophie Cox, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was diagnosed with trichotillomania, a condition where a person feels compelled to pull their hair out, six years ago.

She was also suffers from trichophagia, also known as ‘Rapunzel syndrome’, the compulsive eating of hair.

The 23-year-old explained that doctors initially could not work out what was causing her dramatic weight loss and severe stomach pains.