A man is the new face of a campaign calling on the UK government to deliver on its commitments to fight polio and work to eradicate the disease globally.

Colin Powell, a magistrate and chartered accounted from Bushey who contracted polio at six months old, is one of three polio survivors fronting the video from the One Last Push campaign as part of World Polio Day.

He is urging the public to put pressure on the government to help rid the world of the virus before the next UK General Election in 2020 in the hope other children will never have to suffer as he did.

The 67-year-old said: "As a baby my father took me to the swimming pool not knowing the impact that one visit would have on my life. Two days later I had a fever and I could not move my legs.

"Polio is just as cruel now as it was then. The difference is today we can do more than just prevent it. We can end it.

"I wish I could dance - to experience that combination of music and movement together. I wish I could run for a train or jump on a bus without having to plan any travel arrangement no matter how simple with military precision.

"I wish I could tie my own shoelaces without needing the help of my wife. Those are three things I will never be able to do. I want to ensure we manage to eradicate polio completely so no child ever has those same three wishes."

Mr Powell spent the first four years of his life in hospital and now he is in a wheelchair and dependent upon being connected nightly to a ventilator because polio severely weakening his chest muscles.

Up until the 1980s polio was still paralysing children here in the UK and Mr Powell is one of more than 120,000 men and women suffering from the after-effects of this disease.

Globally the number of cases is in steep decline; polio is now only endemic in Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan and a cheap vaccine is available. However more still needs to be done to eradicate the disease completely.

MP for Hertsmere Oliver Dowden, who has been recruited to be a polio champion, said: "After centuries of suffering caused by Poliovirus, its end is in sight.

"There is a genuine opportunity for us to eradicate polio before 2020 – and we need leaders to back the efforts of the millions of volunteers and health workers around the world who are working in extremely challenging conditions to end the disease. They must support these workers in giving one last push."

"I am pleased to be associated with this campaign to recognise the wonderful work that is being done to eradicate polio.

"Together with One Last Push, we have the opportunity to change the world for better and deliver a lasting global legacy."