A chef's eyesight has been restored after a three-year battle for pioneering treatment.

Adrian Patrick, 32, of The Cloisters, Newhaven, had been denied Infliximab to correct a condition called bilateral intermediate uveitis because of concerns about its effectiveness.

Lewes MP Norman Baker raised his case in Parliament and after further tests on the drug and a Commons debate, doctors from Moorfields Eye Hospital in London phoned Mr Patrick to tell him he could have the treatment.

The condition causes the jelly between the eyeball and retina to disconnect. It left Mr Patrick with little sight out of his right eye and deteriorating vision in his left.

He had trained with celebrity chef Gary Rhodes and was set for a dazzling career but was unable to carry on.

After working for the first time in six years, Mr Patrick said: "I feel on top of the world."

His hopes were first raised about the possibility of a cure when his consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital, Professor Susan Lightman, recommended the treatment.

But hospital managers refused it on the grounds it was too expensive and there was insufficient evidence to support it in his condition.

The drug, administered with a needle, costs £2,000 for each injection.

He was finally given the drug in April but waited to see how successful the treatment was before speaking publicly.

He said: "I have waited this long to see what would happen. My left eye is good. It has come back considerably well. My right eye is slow to respond but it has worked."

He was apprehensive about the treatment, administered as a transfusion at St Bartholomew"s Hospital in London, but it started working within 24 hours.

Mr Patrick said it was a strange experience as his sight came back gradually.

He said: "As I looked at something I noticed that instead of having to stand right up close I was standing back at a distance."

The chef thanked Mr Baker for backing his fight.

Mr Patrick has now signed up to work through four agencies and recently worked for three days in the kitchen of a care home.

It was the first time he had worked for six years and was even able to use a sharp knife.

He said: "I feel on top of the world. I want to go back to full-time work."

Job-hunting is not proving easy because of the time he has been out of work.

He said: "It is like being 16 again except that rather than being a novice I have quite a few years" experience. I have been given another chance."