LLOYD Tribello has a great sense of humour, despite being badly disabled by a terrible illness.

Part of the laughter is brought on by the drugs he is taking to control his Motor Neurone Disease, an uncontrollable side-effect, but most is his strong personality shining through the condition.

Less than a year ago the former chemistry teacher, of Hutton, was still working at Cardinal Newman College, but had to leave when the symptoms became too severe.

Now he is one of 400 patients across Europe taking part in a drugs trial that could extend his life.

But Lloyd, 57, faces an uncertain future. He said: "I don't know what will happen next because the one thing we know is that it affects different people so differently.

"Some people go very quickly and then we have people like Professor Stephen Hawking who was diagnosed at 21 and is still going strong at 60."

Lloyd is very weak, has difficulty speaking, and is helped with basic everyday tasks by his wife, Bernadette.

He was diagnosed with the disease (MND) in June 2001, and it has progressed quickly, seeing him use a stick, walking frame and now a wheelchair.

But the new trials, being partly run by the Royal Preston Hospital, could put a small light at the end of the father-of-three's tunnel.

Currently there is only one approved treatment for the condition, which affects the link between the muscles and the brain, resulting in the sufferer having problems moving and speaking.

Lloyd, originally from Gibraltar, said: "I got muscular spasms in my arm, and that went to my right hand. So I went to a doctor, and they did a whole battery of tests. There is no single diagnosis test for MND. All they can do is eliminate other possibilities.

"The people I meet locally with the condition have a variety of symptoms. Some of them are far more disabled than I am but can still talk absolutely clearly."

Lloyd will be starting the drugs test soon, but won't know if the treatment he receives is real, or a fake 'placebo'.