Torron Eeles claims surgeons cancelled on him four times, leaving him unable to work and living in fear of losing his home.

His incapacity benefit was cancelled 'because I can turn on a tap and I can lift my arm', he said.

'It's been so long, the bones have knitted back together. Sleeping is really uncomfortable because, whenever I roll over, my arm gets in the way,' added the 50-year-old.

'I'm a kitchen fitter and plumber by trade but I can't even slice a loaf of bread, let alone work.'

Mr Eeles, from Welham Green, Hertfordshire, fractured his arm falling down stairs at home in December last year and had his arm put in plaster by casualty doctors.

He was then told he would need a metal plate because the bone fragments were too far apart.

The first two operations at Queen Elizabeth II hospital in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, were cancelled because of a lack of beds and operating time, he said.

A third operation in February was delayed by his high blood pressure while a fourth, planned for May, was binned because of his smoking.

Only two operations were cancelled, both 'on clinical safety grounds', said Nick Carver, head of East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust.

'If [the surgeons] are guilty of anything, it is of having the best clinical interests of their patients at heart,' he added.