A man on bail in Thailand despite being cleared of drug smuggling is applying to return to the UK for urgent medical treatment.

Kevin Quill is appealing to the British Embassy to help him get his passport back from the Thai courts so he can have a voice box fitted in Britain.

Mr Quill has been waiting four months for an artificial voice box after Thai surgeons removed his larynx during life-saving throat cancer surgery.

Mr Quill, 44, who lives in the resort of Pattaya, has been ordered to stay in the country while an appeal against his acquittal for drug smuggling is considered by the country's Supreme Court.

He is now unable to speak and fears infection from an open wound in his throat. Today he told the Telegraph & Argus by e-mail that he is pressing to leave Thailand as soon as possible. "I have no idea how long this will take but I am fairly sure it will take at least a month to sort it out," he wrote.

Mr Quill is still waiting for the Thai Supreme Court to fix a date for the prosecution appeal against his acquittal.

"The Supreme Court will not divulge when it is about to reach a verdict or come to a conclusion, according to the Justice Ministry," he said.

Hands-free voice box systems were not available in Thailand but could be obtained in the UK from the National Health Service, according to Mr Quill.

He said: "The fact that I need urgent treatment unavailable in Thailand, and because nobody knows when this appeal will be heard, I am requesting a back-up letter from the British Embassy to get my passport back from the court and to help me in my request to return to the UK on health grounds."

Mr Quill, who ran The Fighting Cock, Diplomat and Idle Cock pubs, all in Bradford, is hoping that a hospital in West Yorkshire can help him obtain a voice box. He said: "Until I get this I am stuck. Leaving the wound open risks infection - the voice box closes the hole/wound in my neck."

Mr Quill spent seven months in a Thai jail when he was imprisoned for six years for smuggling amphetamine.

He was freed after appealing but prosecutors have challenged that decision. He could still be returned to jail if a ruling goes against him at the Supreme Court.

Mr Quill wrote: "I cannot shout for help if I have a problem. I cannot flag a motorbike taxi. I cannot order food or do any simple task. I have to have someone there."

Mr Quill's cause is being championed by Fair Trials Abroad but the organisation has warned that he could lose his property if he leaves the country pending his court hearing.

A spokesman for The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London said that it will not ask the Thai authorities to let Mr Quill leave the country because it cannot guarantee his return.

e-mail: jenny.loweth@bradford.newsquest.co.uk