A former businessman, who suffers from locked-in syndrome, is taking his right to die to the High Court.

Tony Nicklinson from Melksham in Wiltshire has been left paralysed and unable to speak after suffering a massive stroke in 2005 while on a business trip to Athens.

The 57-year-old, who communicates by blinking or limited head movement, sums up his existence as "dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable" and wants a doctor to be able to lawfully end his life.

He now wants a declaration that "it would not be unlawful on the grounds of necessity for Mr Nicklinson's GP, or another doctor, to terminate or assist the termination of Mr Nicklinson's life".

He will also be asking for a second declaration over his right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention.

Before the stroke Mr Nicklinson, who is married and has two grown-up daughters, was a "very active and outgoing man" but he says he now has no "privacy or dignity left".

He adds that what he objects to is having his right to choose taken away from him.

In a court statement he says: "By all means protect the vulnerable; by vulnerable I mean those who cannot make decisions for themselves. Just don't include me. I am not vulnerable.

"I don't need help or protection from death or those who would help me.

"If the legal consequences were not so huge, ie life imprisonment, perhaps I could get someone to help me. As things stand, I can't get help."

Mr Nicklinson recently joined Twitter, where his case and the issues surrounding it have attracted widespread interest from thousands of followers.

Lord Justice Toulson, sitting with Mr Justice Royce and Mrs Justice Macur, will hear a further 'landmark' judicial review action brought by a man who suffered a catastrophic stroke three years ago at the age of 43 and is now unable to move and can only communicate by moving his eyes.

He is not asking for a change in the law, but is asking for current guidelines to be amended so that professionals would not face criminal or disciplinary action if they helped him end his life