AN 88-year-old Bradford man has recounted a pair of fascinating stories from the 1950s to the Telegraph & Argus.

Fred Nunn, who lives in Eldwick with his wife Joyce, spoke with pride about gracing the Valley Parade pitch in 1950 with his amateur football team, before recounting how his life nearly took a deadly turn two years later.

Mr Nunn volunteered to go to Porton Down, the Ministry of Defence's Wiltshire research base, in 1952 while on National Service with the RAF, expecting to be tested with a harmless substance.

To his horror, he was exposed to a poisonous nerve gas, GB Sarin, while inside a chamber and he has suffered health problems, such as severe nosebleeds, to this day.

Mr Nunn admitted that he was one of the lucky ones, saying: "There was another young lad from the RAF, Ronald Maddison, who was part of a nerve gas experiment about six months after me.

"The gas must have seeped through his clothing and two hours later, he was dead."

Mr Nunn and his fellow victims were told to keep the scandal quiet by the MoD and the case was not settled until over 50 years later.

Wiltshire Police finally launched an enquiry into the incident in 1999 and in 2008, the 369 veterans who were subject to testing were awarded £8,300 each in compensation by the MoD.

Mr Nunn remembered: "We battled for a long time but the solicitors really pushed for us to get the compensation.

"The good news was that the money helped my wife and I to fund a new kitchen."

This light end to a traumatic tale leads us nicely on to one of Mr Nunn's career highlights.

He spent life working as a plumber and heating engineer but his love of football allowed him to feature at Valley Parade with his amateur side, Eldwick.

Taking up the story, Mr Nunn said: "I played with Eldwick's first team at the stadium and we played a top Bradford side called St Joseph's at Valley Parade in a cup semi final.

"We drew 3-3 with them on the Saturday but we returned on the Tuesday for a replay and took them apart."

"We faced Bradford Telephones in the final, another great side, but lost 2-1 after missing a late penalty."

Mr Nunn nearly got the chance to grace the Valley Parade pitch more permanently, but an unfortunate tactical tweak hindered his chances.

He said: "I had a trial for Bradford City but they put me on the right wing even though I always played left half.

"I performed as well as I could and they said they'd contact me but sadly I never heard from them again."

Mr Nunn has battled back from his setbacks in life and he and his wife celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last August.

On a special occasion for the couple, their beloved granddaughter Lauren got married on the very same day.