FEARS are growing for a Swindon man who suffered a stress-induced heart attack in a South East Asian jail.

Kevin Taylor, 43, has been held in Camp Crame prison in the Philippines for the past 20 days – but has not yet been charged with an offence.

The former St Joseph’s Catholic College pupil said he has lost a stone since entering the jail following his arrest for “illegal recruitment” in Manila on Friday, May 15.

The father-of-two denies the offence, which involves companies defrauding job seekers with promises of employment overseas.

Mr Taylor yesterday spoke to the Adver through a mobile phone smuggled into his cell.

He said: “The cell is cockroach infested and I am waking up with ants in my mouth.

“I also have an ear infection because they have been crawling into my orifices.

“The doctors here think that I have ischemia, which restricts my blood flow, and that led to a minor heart attack because of stress.

“I can’t eat the food here because it is always fish, which I am allergic to.

“I am totally innocent – my wife and I were running a visa company to help people pass English exams and land visas to other countries – that’s it.”

Mr Taylor, a former BMW worker, said he had spent thousands of pounds on legal fees since his arrest.

His heavily pregnant wife, Charlene, 30, said she feared she would be incarcerated after she gives birth to their third child.

Speaking from her Manila home, she said: “The authorities have kept me out of prison because I am pregnant but now they are saying I may have to go in while pregnant.

“Kevin has really been scaring us – he is in the regular jail population even though he hasn’t been charged.

“We are innocent and the law says he has to be charged within 36 hours of his arrest.

“I have sold everything – all the furniture, the appliances and even the curtains to get money, but now it is all gone.

“I need at least £5,000 more from somewhere, otherwise Kevin will be stuck in that jail sick and is likely to get worse.”

Mr Taylor’s family, who have lived in Stratton for the past 35 years, have been advised not to travel to the Philippines until any charges are brought.

His father Gerald said: “It is very hard for us, we are pensioners and have very little money as it is, I was thinking about going out there but have decided against it, I would not be able to do anything.

“Kevin left the country against our will. No-one wanted him to go.”

The Foreign Office said it had sent delegates to meet with Mr Taylor. The UK Embassy in the Philippines has also met with Mr Taylor twice.

A Philippine Embassy spokesman declined to comment. A spokesman at Camp Crane also declined to comment.