Ananova:

A couple who weighed 38 stone between them were told they were too heavy for their plane to take off.

Alan Coupe and his wife Jan were approached by a stewardess while their plane was still on the runway and asked to move to help the aircraft get off the ground.

Mr Coupe, who weighed 20 stone, moved to the front of the aircraft to even out the weight and the plane took off.

The embarrassment of the incident, which took place in Southampton in 2005, led the couple to begin a drastic diet and the pair have since lost 12st 7lb between them.

They were on their way to Guernsey for a week's holiday with their son Chris when the incident happened.

Mrs Coupe, 49, who runs a bed and breakfast business with her husband in Stubbington, Hampshire, said: "We couldn't believe that we were too heavy for the plane to take off.

"The stewardess asked one of us to get up and move to the front, so Alan volunteered to move which I was thankful about as I was so embarrassed I just couldn't look up."

The couple, who had settled into a routine of having takeaways and eating very late at night, joined a slimming club and turned to pasta, vegetable curries or steak salads.

Now Mrs Coupe, who also suffers from multiple sclerosis, has lost 6st 5lb and her 54-year-old husband 5st 13lb.

She said: "I don't feel embarrassed about getting on a plane anymore - we all feel so great we could fly around the world now without a hitch."