CANAL inspector Colin Hughes had a big surprise for his wife when she got back from a "holiday with the girls" - he had secretly got himself a new hip.

And wife Janet did not believe him - until he showed her the scars.

When Mr Hughes, aged 55, of St Godwald's Road, Bromsgrove, was given a date for his second hip replacement operation he realised it coincided with his wife's holiday.

His first operation, just a few months earlier, had been a success - and this time he decided to "go it alone" and keep the appointment a secret.

“By the time she got home from the holiday I was back in the house with my second new hip," said Mr Hughes.

"She didn’t believe me until I showed her the scars."

He added: "When they first offered me the date I realised it coincided with Janet's holiday but I thought it seemed a shame to ruin it so I simply decided not to tell her.

“To say she was surprised is an understatement – but once she got over the shock she was just delighted that things had gone so well.”

Mr Hughes, a keen rugby player in his youth, walks several miles a day in his role as an inspector with the Canal and River Trust.

He first had problems with his hips more than 10 years ago but ignored advice to have replacements fitted.

That changed when he was spotted by his manager hobbling across a car park on the way to a team meeting.

His boss pulled him to one side and told him he should get an operation and fixed him up with an office job in the meantime.

X-rays showed both his hips with in the same arthritic state and he needed two replacements.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Jonathan Luscombe, who carried out the operations at BMI Droitwich Spa Hospital, said: "Both of Colin’s hips were so badly affected by arthritis that just replacing one would not have resulted in a major improvement of his mobility.

"He needed both replacing in order to enable him to start walking properly again.

“It is true that, because both hips are obviously the same age it is not unusual to see them wear out at around the same time, but in this case it was the extent of the arthritis that made both operations so important.”

Now Mr Hughes, who regularly patrols some of the 600 kilometres of canals in the West Midlands, is back at work and wishing he'd had the operations 10 years ago.