A man who was wrongly diagnosed with cancer is to sue the NHS after he had a healthy lung removed unnecessarily.

Laurence Ball, 58, was admitted to hospital in 2005 after suffering from a chest infection.

However, doctors told him that he had lung cancer and that he would have to have an operation in order to remove the tumour.

He did so three months later, however, when he woke up, he was told that there never was a tumour.

Mr Ball, a former firefighter, said: "I was given a misdiagnosis, I’ve lost my lung and I lost my job. For those reasons I feel that at the very least an explanation should be given to me by the health board that should sit down and discuss financial compensation for my loss of earnings."

An NHS spokesperson said the organisation cannot comment for legal reasons.

Wrong diagnosis occurs when a healthcare professional fails to give an accurate diagnosis, specifically by diagnosing a patient with the wrong disease, an absent disease, or as healthy when there actually is a disease.

Victims of wrong diagnosis and other types of malpractice may have a legal right to recover their damages, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages and earning capacity.