A 32-year-old man with no underlying health conditions was mistakenly prioritised for the Covid vaccine because doctors thought he was just 6cm tall and "morbidly obese".

Liam Thorp, who is actually 6ft 2ins in height, said he was "really surprised" to be invited for a jab and to learn he had been placed in Group 6 for the rollout due to his weight.

Because of the clerical mix-up doctors thought he had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28,000. A BMI of 40 is considered morbidly obese.

The journalist said he initially couldn't understand why he'd been picked to have the jab, when there are still so many out there in greater need of it.

After speaking to several people about his upcoming appointment, Liam decided to give his GP a call and find out if there had been some kind of mistake - and it turned out there had.

His doctor informed him he'd been invited for the vaccine as he had been placed in Group 6 for the rollout due to his weight, which they had down as being "morbidly obese".

This sparked plenty of questions, as the political editor was under the impression there was nothing wrong with his weight.

The next day the doctor's surgery called back to confirm there had been a bit of a mix-up - in what Liam claims was one of the most "bizarre phone calls of [his] life".

He recalled the conversation in an article for for the Echo, writing: "A nervous sounding chap on the line began quietly explaining to me that there had been a mix-up in offering me a vaccine at this stage.

"He said, unfortunately, my details had been put into the system incorrectly when I had registered with the GP just a year ago.

"He was really polite and very apologetic but said I was in fact not due to get my vaccine anytime soon."

Liam was relieved as he'd felt "strange" being offered his vaccine ahead of those in need - but was curious to know more about the error.

"The man from the surgery took a sharp intake of breath and tried to remain composed as he informed me that rather than having my height registered as six foot two, it had been put into the system as 6.2 centimetres.

"I'm not sure how he kept it together when he told me that this, combined with my weight, had given me a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28,000."

Liam continued to explain: "For reference, a BMI of 40 or more is considered morbidly obese - so I'm not sure what this would have made me.

"If I had been less stunned, I would have asked why no one was more concerned that a man of these remarkable dimensions was slithering around south Liverpool.

"But he was very apologetic and really nice and I think he was just relieved that I found it so funny."

He summed up the whole situation as "surreal" but added that he thought the vaccine roll-out is going "incredibly well in the UK".

Following the amusing blunder, Liam contacted his local Clinical Commissioning Group to ask what others should do if they think they might have been wrongly invited for a vaccine.

Dr Fiona Lemmens, chair of Liverpool CCG said: "I can see the funny side of this story but also recognise there is an important issue for us to address. There are millions of GP appointments taking place every day and while we take care to make sure records are accurate occasional data errors do occur.

"We are grateful to Liam for his honesty and for alerting his GP practice when he received his vaccination invitation. We would encourage anyone who has received a text invitation that they think they are not eligible for at this stage, to contact their GP practice to clarify. This will help ensure that more vulnerable people get vaccinated first."