Terminally-ill cancer patient Jim Wheeler is the latest person in Oxfordshire to be denied a life-extending drug by Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust.

Mr Wheeler, 57, from Kidlington, has kidney cancer that has spread to other parts of his body.

The father-of-two asked the PCT to prescribe the £2,500-a-month drug - which is available in other areas - but was told funding for the treatment has been declined.

It follows the two other high-profile cases of Stephen Dallison and Martyn Sumner, who fought for the drug to extend their lives.

Mr Sumner has died, it emerged yesterday.

Mr Wheeler, who ran TW Motorcycles of Kidlington for 30 years, is receiving radiotherapy at Oxford's Churchill Hospital and told the Oxford Mail: "This is a ticking time-bomb and every day that goes by allows the condition to get worse.

"The drug is my only chance. I will find out soon the results of the radiotherapy but this is a terminal illness and I want to be able to take the tablets as soon as possible."

Mr Wheeler's wife Jenny, 54, of the Moors, added: "I'm extremely angry. Jim and I have been together for 36 years and it's very hard to come to terms with the fact that the man you love is being refused a drug that could extend his life.

"We only found out that Jim had been turned down by getting a member of staff at the hospital to look at his medical notes.

"We are appealing against the decision and will take this all the way to the High Court if we have to."

Mr Wheeler is one of 15 patients in Oxfordshire who have been refused the drug, and as his case emerged, Jan Sumner, from Cumnor, revealed that her husband Martyn died in March from renal cancer after being denied the drug.

His family was seeking a judicial review after the PCT declined funding for the drug on a three-month trial basis. Mr Sumner was 52.

Mr Dallison, 33, of Iffley Road, Oxford, started using Sunitinib after being diagnosed with renal cancer last year. But it took him three months to appeal and win the right to get the drug in December.

He said yesterday he felt "OK" following treatment and added that he would give the Wheeler family any advice they needed on how best to obtain the drug.

He said he was saddened to hear of Mr Sumner's death.

He added: "You have to devote a great deal of time to pursuing the legal route and it can be very stressful."

Jo Wilkes, a spokesman for Oxfordshire PCT, said: "We do not have Mr Wheeler's written permission to comment and therefore we cannot comment on the specific circumstances of his case."

She added since last month cases like this were considered by a cancer treatment panel. Their decisions could be appealed to Andrea Young, the PCT's chief executive.