LITTLE John Mark Riding, the cancer-stricken boy who has beaten the odds, has continued his amazing battle against an inoperable brain tumour which doctors thought would kill him.

Five-year-old John, formerly from Darwen and a Lancashire Evening Telegraph Baby of the Year, has outlived the odds British doctors gave him by two months.

This week his parents John Riding and Jacqueline Sanderson heard that tests on his kidneys, liver and blood had revealed his body was functioning normally, after seven weeks' treatment at the private Huferland Clinic in Bad Mergentheim in Germany.

His amazing progress has stunned doctors at the clinic and given hope to his family, who were told in January that the outlook was bleak.

When he arrived, the effects of the tumour had left him almost unable to use his left arm and struggling to walk with his left leg. He was also struggling with his speech.

Now he can kick a football around and goes swimming three times a week. Doctors have now advised the family that he should stay for a further six weeks, arriving back in England in April, so he can complete his treatment.

He will then face an MRI scan in Britain which will show whether the treatment has halted the growth of the aggressive tumour.

John said: "The test results were the best news we could have. Every part of his body is working perfectly. His arm is 75 per cent better and he still has a limp, but his leg is a lot better. We couldn't expect more. He is back to being a five-year-old now and that is amazing."

Clinic owner Dr Wolfgang Woeppel said: "We can state that there is a dramatic and unexpected clinical improvement."

John's treatment has been paid for by fundraisers in Blackburn with Darwen and John's new home town of Redruth in Cornwall, under the new name of the John Riding Appeal.