A 19-year-old Andover man who had spent more than nine months in hospital after being diagnosed with a rare disorder that knocked out his immune system, has died.

Lionel and Helen Cutts, of Venice Court, had seen their son, Anthony, undergo a bone marrow transplant, almost daily blood transfusions and chemotherapy in an attempt to cure his condition but he died yesterday morning.

Anthony had been in Southampton General Hospital since he was diagnosed in May last year with aplastic anaemia which devastated his immune system.

Aplastic anaemia is a rare disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce sufficient blood cells for circulation around the body.