The man once dubbed Britain’s fattest is planning to set up a new life stateside with the woman who has stolen his heart.

Paul Mason, who once weighed in at 70 stone, plans to make the move to the USA to be with his girlfriend Rebecca Mountain.

“Obviously there are a lot of things to do but that’s the goal,” Miss Mountain said. “We’re both forward thinking people.”

Miss Mountain has been in Ipswich this week visiting her boyfriend for the first time after striking up a friendship online.She contacted Mr Mason via Facebook in August and they soon began talking on Skype, and they have only gone two days without speaking since.

“The first initial talk was over four hours, and it was just so natural,” he said. “I just said to her at the end, ‘what time tomorrow then?’... I like calling and waking her up in the morning.”

Initially the couple were talking for so long on Skype that Mr Mason was worried his girlfriend’s Rebecca’s business might suffer. The 40-year-old, from Orange near Boston, builds and sells cat furniture.

Miss Mountain became aware of Mr Mason’s story when she watched a documentary on his life before receiving a gastric bypass. Keeping up to date with the story as it unfolded, she even conducted her own research into weight loss surgery.

Now they are trying to raise funds so he can undergo skin removal surgery in New York, after which he plans to move stateside permanently so they can be together.

Miss Mountain said she instantly recognised a “chemistry” between the pair. “Of course it was emotional chemistry because we’d never met before,” she said.

However when the pair finally met in person at Heathrow airport this week, “it didn’t feel like I was meeting him for the first time... It was like seeing someone that you hadn’t seen in forever,” she added.

“I think it’s his spirit, his determination. And along with that is just how genuine he is, that I think is what let us connect so quickly.

“A lot of people, it takes you a month to get to know them, because they’re holding back and you don’t really know what they’re thinking or you don’t really trust that they’re telling you everything and he’s been so open with me. It’s let me be very open with him.”

Mr Mason said it was Miss Mountain’s “drive” and “determination” which attracted him to her, and it is that drive which is going to help ensure that he gets the surgery he needs to remove skin left over after his rapid weight loss.

A New York surgeon has agreed to carry out the operation for free, but Mr Mason needs to raise $20,000 for travel costs, medication and aftercare. He has set up a fundraising page at youcaring.com.But the first operation will only remove the skin around his midriff, and he will need more if he wants to have it removed from his legs and arms.Eventually he hopes to settle down with Miss Mountain “somewhere in New England” and help contribute to her business. “There’s a good future ahead,” he said.