Neil Lane from Staffordshire wants to stop his wife Lorraine, who is in a coma, from receiving food and water.

He says it would be her wish that she be allowed to die if she slipped into a coma.

He told Channel 4 News on Wednesday: "Lorraine would want to die. She went to see a friend who was in a coma several years ago.

"She came back and said to me, 'Don't you ever let me be like that'. She'd be saying now, 'For God's sake, just get on with it'."

Stroke

Lorraine, aged 42, fell into a coma following a stroke six months ago and is being fed by drip.

The Tony Bland ruling moved the euthanasia debate on

In 1992, the courts set a legal precedent by allowing doctors to stop feeding 22-year-old Hillsborough victim Tony Bland.

But Mr Bland was in a Persistent Vegetative State, which meant he had no detectable brain activity.

Doctors have detected some brain activity in Mrs Lane's case and she is defined as being in a Minimally Conscious State.

It is rare, but not unknown, for people in comas for several months to regain consciousness, although they are likely to suffer permanent brain damage as a result.

'Not euthanasia'

The British Medical Association recently published guidelines which give doctors the go-ahead to withdraw food and water from terminally ill people so they can die with dignity.

They say doctors should be allowed to decide whether such treatment is in the patient's interests.