A grandfather says he feared for his life after a length of surgical thread was left in him by error following a chest drain operation at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Patient Sujad Sabri, 52, of Heights Lane, Heaton, said he was left in agony after the procedure to remove a three-day-old fluid drain.

Although nurses gave him painkillers he insisted nothing had worked and he claimed it was only a scan the next morning that finally revealed the problem was being caused by an 8ins length of surgical thread that had been used to hold the drain in place.

"The doctor who finally took the bit out showed me this thing, about 8ins long and like plastic fishing thread.

“The pain was so bad after they removed the drain that I thought I was in my grave, I thought I was dying.” A Bradford Teaching Hospitals spokesman said: “Unfortunately the Trust cannot breach patient confidentiality and comment on individual cases, but we have apologised to Mr Sabri for any distress that he might have experienced.”