LONDON (Reuters Life!) ¿ A former London banker whose cocaine addiction cost him his high-flying job and nearly destroyed his marriage has created Britain's first television channel to help addicts and their families.

Dan Butcher, 34, from Berkshire, developed an addiction that left him suicidal while running a foreign exchange trading desk at a firm in London's financial district.

"If I didn't have a wife and children I would have killed myself," he told Reuters in an interview. "If they weren't around, I wouldn't be here."

At his lowest point, he was taking up to £300 worth of cocaine a day and was arrested for possession after visiting his dealer.

The last few days before he sought help were spent alone in a hotel room, drinking vodka and taking cocaine around the clock without sleeping or eating.

"I was lying to everyone," he said. "I was scared of losing my wife, scared that if work found out they would sack me." He finally hit rock bottom in October last year when his wife Helen threatened to leave with their children, a boy and a girl aged six and three.

With his family's support, he checked into the Priory, a London rehabilitation clinic known for its celebrity clients, where, at a cost of £18,000, he slept for a month in a single bedroom with no lock on the door.

During his time in rehab, he examined his problems and the plight of his alcoholic brother and was struck by the idea of giving addicts and their loved ones support in their own homes.

With the help of private investors, he decided to set up a Web site and TV channel called The Recovery Network, www.trntv.co.uk , aimed at addicts, those in recovery and their families.

Trained counsellors and therapists will offer help and advice on TV, while Internet users will swap stories in chat rooms and download information from the site.