TAXI driver George Fleming was tipping the scales at 19 stone when he turned up to his first Scottish Slimmers class in January 2014.

With a height of 5ft 8, it meant that his body mass index came in at just over 40 - meaning he was classed as "obese".

The wake-up call, however, had been a trip to his GP who warned Mr Fleming, from Bo'ness in West Lothian, that he was on the verge of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Mr Fleming, 57, said: "My GP said I was a borderline case. That made me sit up and think I really need to do something.

"My dad had type II diabetes later life. He was overweight as well. I lost my mum to a heart attack, and these things make you think you've got to give yourself a chance in life."

"My wife is also a Type 1 diabetic, so I know all about diabetes and it's something I want to avoid like the plague."

"I hate taking tablets - if I don't have to take tablets I won't. I never take painkillers if I can help it. I've always tried to avoid that."

After embarking on a regime of healthy eating and exercise - he took up running and later cycling - he said the weight "fell off". By May 2015, his weight had tumbled to 12st 4.

Mr Fleming, a married father-of-three and former council building standards surveyor, also saw a major turnaround in his health.

He said: "I had high blood pressure - I was taking four blood pressure tablets a day. But when I got down to my target weight, the doctor took me off them all. I've started back on one tablet because I've still got a wee bit of blood pressure, but I only take that one tablet now.

"I'm tested yearly for Type 2 diabetes but I've been fine. I used to have gout as well - that's disappeared completely. I don't take any tablets for gout either. I did have a duodenal ulcer at one point too but I don't have that anymore so I'm not taking anything for it.

The NHS spends £22 million a day across the UK on anti-diabetes drugs, and around 10 per cent of total NHS expenditure goes on treating Type 2 diabetes. However, Mr Fleming's example chimes with research showing that weight loss of around 15kg (33 Ibs) is often enough to trigger total remission of the disease, but many GPs and patients are unaware of the link.

A ongoing study of more than 300 Type 2 diabetics between Glasgow and Newcastle is Universities is testing whether more than one in five patients can reverse their condition, and for how long, through weight loss.

If successful, Professor Mike Lean, chair of Human Nutrition at Glasgow University, said it would have "massive implications for healthcare spending".

More than two years since hitting his target weight, Mr Fleming says he "feels great".

He added: "I was a serial dieter before. I had tried so many diets and I never stuck to them for any length of time. I found at Scottish Slimmers you had great support from the class manager and the other members of the group. I suppose it becomes a wee bit of a competition. To me it's not really a diet though - it's just healthy eating.

"I probably eat more now than I ever did, but I just eat the right stuff. I don't eat fatty things, I don't eat sweet stuff very often."