Martin Jones, 42, a builder, had been blind for 12 years after a tub of white hot aluminium exploded in his face as he worked at a scrapyard.

He married his wife Gill, 50, four years ago but had not seen her until after the delicate eight-hour operation to return the gift of sight.

The rare procedure meant that one of Mr Jones' front teeth was removed and used as a lens holder in his right eye.

"I met my wife when I was blind and when I found out there was a chance I would get my sight back the first person I wanted to see was her," said Mr Jones, from Broom, Rotherham.

"The doctors took the bandages off and it was like looking through water and then I saw this figure and it was her. She's wonderful and lovely. It was unbelievable to see her for the first time.

"I feel fantastic getting my sight back. I can't really describe it – it's beyond words. I was blind for 12 years and when my sight came back everything had changed.

"The first car I saw when my sight was restored was a Smart car and I couldn't stop laughing – I'd never seen one before and I thought it had been chopped in half.

"Getting my sight back has changed my life. It is such a precious gift and you don't really appreciate it until it is taken away.

"I have been so fortunate that my sight has been returned. I find it such a simple pleasure being able to see what is going on in the world."

After his accident Mr Jones had to wear a special body stocking for 23 hours a day after suffering 37 per cent burns to his body and had his left eye removed after it was destroyed in the accident.

But his right eye was saved even though he was unable to see through it.

At first specialists in Nottingham tried to save his sight using stem cells from a donor but the attempt failed.

But then it was decided that he would be suitable for the revolutionary tooth transplant, carried out by Brighton based surgeon Christopher Lui, the only consultant in the country capable of doing the operation.

Mr Liu is a corneal specialist and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon based at Sussex Eye Hospital, Brighton. He is also President of the British Society for Refractive Surgery.

The procedure began when one of Mr Jones' canine teeth was removed and converted into a holder for a special optical lens by drilling a hole in it.

The tooth was then inserted into his cheek for three months to enable it to grow new tissue and blood vessels.

Then finally came the delicate operation to insert the tooth, complete with the fitted lens into Mr Jones' right eyeball.

Within two weeks of the final operation to implant the tooth in his eyeball his sight returned and he was told he had almost perfect vision in his right eye.

"When I first heard about the technique I couldn't believe it. I don't think many people can.

"My friends just don't believe me. They think I'm pulling their leg or have just made it up.

"But when I take my glasses off they say "oh my God" Because my eye looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. They're just amazed at it," he said.