A CAMPAIGNING cancer sufferer claims to have been handed a “death sentence” after health bosses refused to operate on his brain tumour.

Clive Stone, who will pick up an MBE on Wednesday for his contribution to cancer care, has been told his case was not “clinically exceptional” by NHS Oxfordshire chiefs, so they will not pay for the operation.

The news comes despite surgeons saying the operation is the only way to remove his tumour.

Mr Stone, 63, of Freeland, near Witney, is taking the case to an appeal this week.

Prime Minister David Cameron was so impressed with Mr Stone’s campaigning while visiting the former bank manager’s home during last year’s General election campaign that he promised a £200m fund so patients would no longer be denied drugs on cost grounds.

Mr Stone, who was initially diagnosed with kidney cancer three years ago, said: “I have been handed a death sentence.

“My cancer is terminal and if I don’t have this operation I will die.

“I was so shocked when I received the letter from NHS Oxfordshire. They said I was not a clinically exceptional case, but what on earth does that mean?

“This is my last resort. My wife Jan is also suffering from breast cancer, so who will look after her if I go?

“It makes me so angry that people I do not know are sitting behind closed doors deciding whether I will live or die.”

Since being diagnosed, Mr Stone has undergone nine operations to remove tumours, which have now spread to his brain.

Two tumours have been removed, but surgeons have said the only way they can remove the remaining one is to use Gamma Knife treatment, which does less damage to surrounding tissues.

But NHS Oxfordshire said it does not routinely fund the operations, adding the Government’s £200m pot only covers medication.

Mr Stone, who will collect his MBE from Buckingham Palace, was handed the award in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list.

He said: “How can the State be thanking me for helping cancer patients, while at the same time the NHS is refusing to treat me?

“I feel let down by the NHS, not Mr Cameron who I feel has worked very hard for us.

“I do not know how long I have got left because I am too terrified to ask.

“This operation is the only chance I have and I am not going to give up.

“This is not me being greedy. I am doing it on behalf of everybody who is in my situation.

“I will fight this decision.”

Mr Stone’s campaign group Justice for Kidney Cancer Patients has brought hundreds of patients to meet drug rationing bosses.

A spokesman for NHS Oxfordshire said: “When we are presented with a treatment request which is not routine it is normal practice to have it considered by an exceptional cases panel. This serves to both assess its clinical appropriateness and funding. Mr Stone’s case will be given full consideration at the meeting this week.”