MOSLEY Common man Roy Lilley is an idol to women weight watchers.

To the women of Worsley Weight Watchers Roy is not just their only male regular -- he is their inspiration. Yet Roy could never motivate himself to fight his own life-threatening flab, until he remembered the work of Christie Hospital.

In 1997 Roy's was sponsored to shed eight and a half stones for Manchester's famous cancer centre. Gradually he slimmed from 23 stone 2lbs to an almost sylph-like 14 stone 7lbs, losing 42 inches of pure body fat.

Ever since he has worked for the 'Christie's against Cancer' campaign and for the last six years he has also run a weekly £1 a ticket raffle among his slimming club members for a basket of fruit donated by Atherton fruiterers J & G Taylor.

In weight watching circles the odd pound here and there never sounds like much, but the Worsley group has just helped Roy top £13,000 in total.

Now 71, and a trim 14 st 13lbs, Roy slipped into -- and almost straight out out of -- one of the bulky suits he used to wear.

"My sheer bulk caused breathlessness, diabetes, high blood pressure and aggravated an old heart condition," said Roy.

"Kids called me Mr Blobby when I went out. I could not fit in cinema seats and on planes the meal tray would not come down beyond my chin. But I still made no effort to do anything about it until I got myself sponsored to slim for Christie's.

"I lost my wife Brenda and father Norman to cancer. Christie's helped them and, in a very different way, they and Weight Watchers help me. I'm quite trim and fit these days, so it's only right that I keep trying to pile up the pounds."