A RETIRED council worker had half a lung removed after developing a disease caused by fungal spores which are released by rotting vegetation.

Robert Stendall still gets tired easily and struggles to do physical tasks which previously were easy.

Now he is supporting a campaign to block the creation of an industrial-scale compost heap near Hood Green - fearing the development would leave more people vulnerable to the same disease.

Robert, 59, needed emergency surgery after a fist-sized ball was discovered in his left lung.

It was feared to be cancer but it was only after surgeons removed half the organ they discovered the growth was aspergilloma - a fungal 'ball' caused when spores germinate inside the lung and grow.