A man who lost more than 15 stone has claimed chocolate was his secret weapon.

Peter Ajello lost half of his body weight in 16 months after he decided to go on a diet because he suffered a stroke, the Daily Mail reports.

He ditched takeaways, cakes and high calorie foods and made regular trips to the gym, but revealed whenever he lost his willpower he would have a small piece of dark chocolate to satisfy his craving.

"If someone had told me two years ago that I would weigh 14 stone now, I would have laughed in their face and if they'd said I would still be eating chocolate, I would have laughed even harder," Mr Ajello remarked.

He explained it was tough not eating junk food, but when he kept rewarding himself with chocolate - which can be found in luxury Christmas gift hampers - the fat "melted away".

Meanwhile, a new piece of confectionary that contains 98 per cent milk chocolate and two per cent Marmite will hit shops next week (October 4th).