WHEN bingo caller Charlie Walduck hit his mid-thirties he was deemed to be one of Britain’s fattest men.

Weighing a staggering 50 stone, and barely able to walk, he was on the brink of suicide.

Life was an endless struggle for Charlie who had spent years gorging on pies and fried breakfasts while working at Mecca Bingo in Bury and living in a flat off Redvales Road.

Now, at the age of 41, Charlie is making a triumphant return to Bury — half the man he used be.

With the help of a television show, he has lost 35 stone and turned his life around.

It has been such a drastic change for the slimmer that he has written a book about his experience, which he is promoting in Bury tomorrow.

And although life was tough for Charlie, he has fond memories of his time in the town.

“There’s lots of great stories in the book about my friends in Bury,” he said.

“There was a lady called Cynthia Graham whom I worked with at Mecca and she was like my second mum. We would diet together but it wasn’t until later I realised she was only doing it to encourage me.

“I’d go to Victoria’s sandwich shop on Bolton Street at dinner time and be gone for ages because I was eating pork pies at the back of the building.”

Charlie hit rock bottom when he broke a chair while working at a bingo hall in Manchester a few years later.

His life changed drastically in 2003 when a friend wrote to ITV1’s This Morning programme to ask for help.

Charlie, who now weighs a healthy 15 stone, said: “They didn’t want to help me at first because they thought it was too big a task.

“I was in a bad way, I had ulcers on my legs and could hardly walk. I didn’t want to live anymore.”

For the next year, cameras followed Charlie and, spurred on by the show’s celebrity expert, Doctor Chris Steele, he began his weight loss journey.

There were no complicated operations for the slimmer, who puts his success down to a combination of diet and exercise.

He said: “My philosohpy is everything in moderation, I take each day as it comes.

“I’m a big believer in walking and walk regularly around Greater Manchester, it’s amazing that you don’t have to leave your town to get fit.”

Charlie, who now lives in Manchester, has spent the last four years battling to keep the weight off, hosting a radio show and writing his autobiography, ‘Slimmer Charlie’.

He is also launching a series of weight loss classes across Greater Manchester to help others.

“The book is about my life and why I became the size I did, with tips and advice,” he added.

“I’m very proud of it, it has taken me a long time to write.”

Charlie will hold a book signing session at Waterstones in Union Arcade, Bury, at 1pm tomorrow.