A cancer patient who lost most of his penis to a flesh-eating superbug after routine surgery has launched legal action against the hospital.

Andrew Lane, 61, claims a puncture to his bowel during an operation to remove his prostate gland was not detected for days at Southend Hospital in Essex.

He claims this led to the potentially fatal infection necrotising fasciitis, which left him fighting for his life as diseased tissue was removed in emergency surgery.

Although he survived, Mr Lane's genitals were so badly damaged that he lost most of his penis. He can no longer have sex and has had to have a special device fitted to help him urinate.

Mr Lane said he was "super-fit" and had a "good body" before the surgery.

"Now I look like I'm nine months pregnant," he said. "I can't ever bear to look at myself naked."

Mr Lane, who married his long-term partner Sue after being discharged from hospital, said: "The most difficult bit is not being able to have sex with my wife anymore."

He was also forced to use a catheter and colostomy bag for two years after spending eight weeks in hospital.

Mr Lane, from Thurrock, Essex, said he now works as a carer having felt unable to return to his job as an architectural draftsman.

The lawyer representing him in the civil action over the incident in March 2013 said Mr Lane had thought he was going into hospital for a "routine operation" and believed he "would be home within days".

"Instead, he has been left with permanent and life-changing injuries that have turned his world upside down," said Nick Greaves, clinical negligence specialist at law firm Slater and Gordon.

A spokesman for Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust confirmed it was aware of the legal case but could not comment as it was an "ongoing matter".