A man dying of cancer has branded NHS managers "mean spirited" after they decided not to give him life-prolonging drugs.

Scientist Stephen Dallison, 33, of Iffley Road, Oxford, has been given 12 to 18 months to live, and is at the centre of a postcode lottery row after twice being refused the drug Sunitinib by Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust.

But he has vowed to continue his battle against health bosses until he gets the treatment he needs.

Mr Dallison said the PCT made its original decision because of insufficient clinical information, and, after receiving more evidence, had rejected his latest request because his clinical circumstances were "not exceptional".

He was diagnosed with kidney cancer in July and, despite having the infected tissue removed, the disease returned.

Doctors at Oxford's Churchill Hospital believe £2,500-a-month Sunitinib would give him extra months or even years.

The drug stops cancer growing and cuts off blood supply to tumours. It stabilises cancer in a third of patients.

Mr Dallison, who works at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Didcot, said: "I am disappointed and angry. This drug is my only significant hope.

"I thought they might see sense. I should be given a chance, to see how I respond to the drug.

"If they had said yes', it would have meant I could have gone back to living my life and getting well.

"Now it means more stress. This is not the way I want to spend my life, but somebody has to fight them. They are arguing that I have to be an exceptional case, but anyone with a terminal illness should be given priority.

"I will appeal to the chief executive of the PCT. I am going to pursue this until I get the result I want."

Mr Dallison is one of an estimated 15 county patients who cancer experts feel would benefit from the medication every year.

Oxfordshire PCT policy states the drug can only be given if a patient's clinical situation is "significantly different to the general population of patients with the condition in question" and they are likely to gain more benefit from the drug than the average person with the condition.

However, even if treatment is likely to work, it will not automatically be funded.

The PCT's treatment request panel has turned down all six requests for the drug it has received this financial year.

Mr Dallison's appeal is backed by St Clement's surgery GP Dr Tia MacGregor, and Kate Spall, chairman of the Pamela Northcott Fund - which campaigns for the right for patients to get the drug on the NHS.

Ms Spall said: "The decision is not a shock to me. I don't have much faith in the panel and will be happier when we go to appeal, because, of course, he will get this drug, and it's right he does."

No-one from the PCT was available for comment.