A YEOVIL teacher who courageously tackled a speech impediment to realise his career dream is urging other sufferers not to let fear hold them back.

From the age of nine, Chris Wilton spent years avoiding uttering certain words and was often too scared to talk at all.

But after a speech technique course changed his life, the 32-year-old can now stand in front of crowds of people every day to teach maths at Buckler's Mead Community School.

He said: "I used to be very good at coping with various situations by not using specific words and it used to hold me back quite a lot. At school I used to make myself into a figure of fun to get attention away from my speech.

"I used to avoid speaking altogether in certain situations, such as with people who I maybe didn't know that well. But when I left school and started working part-time I found there were words I couldn't avoid.

"For example, when I worked on a jacket potato stand at Clarks Village, I would ask people if they wanted margarine, when it was actually butter, and I used to offer them 'alad' rather than salad to avoid saying the word.

"Apart from anything else it made me feel pretty silly, which would then increase my fear of saying things even more.

"I also worked for B&Q and had to use the tannoy system, which was an absolute nightmare. It was things like that which made me realise what a huge barrier not being able to express myself properly was."

After years of trying to cope alone, Mr Wilton, who lives in Ashcott near Bridgwater, tried an alternative course when an NHS programme did not produce the results he was hoping for.

He was 20 when he signed up to the McGuire Programme, which teaches sufferers how to use their diaphragm to ensure a smoother air flow over the vocal chords, and has followed the method ever since.

He went on to complete a degree and qualify as a teacher before embarking his first teaching job in Essex. He moved to Buckler's Mead in January. He is now trying to organise an awareness day to tell others about the programme, which is successfully run across the world by other recovering stammerers.

He said: "Eventually I decided I didn't want to use my speech as an excuse not to have the career I really wanted, so I went back into education. Before the course, I had completely dismissed any ideas of getting a career.

"I realised that if you come across as if you're not bothered about your speech then other people aren't bothered either.

" I can now express myself pretty well, although there's absolutely still room for improvement and I am still working on it."