Diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering with continuous hiccups for more than two years, there may finally be light at the end of the tunnel for Lincolnshire man Christopher Sands.

Mr Sands (25) from Timberland near Woodhall Spa, yesterday travelled to Sheffield to see a consultant neurologist after scans taken in Japan showed that he had a tumour on his brain stem.

A Japanese TV channel had flown him and his sister Donna out after hearing about his battle with debilitating hiccups.

And the news he was given was dire. The doctor in Tokyo sent him home with a letter saying he needed to be treated immediately to potentially save his life. He had also been told the tumour could be inoperable.

Waiting in the corridors of the Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield with his mum Christine and brother Kenneth, Mr Sands was terrified about what he might be told.

"I hope they do not give me a time limit, that's what's frightening," he said.

But consultant neurologist David Jellinek told him as his family listened close by, that the tumour was likely to be non-cancerous, although he would not know for sure until he took a sample.

And he has also scheduled Mr Sands for an operation to remove the growth at the end of August or early September.

For more on Mr Sands, see Saturday's Echo.