A MAN rewarded with an honour from the Queen last year for his fund-raising efforts is looking to reprint his autobiographical book after the initial batch sold out in super quick time.

Bruce Grant (93), of Ponteland, was awarded a British Empire Medal in last year's Queen's Birthday Honours List for raising more than £80,000 for various charities, which included him sitting in Hexham's Fore Street on a weekly basis, no matter what the weather, to collect money for the Great North Air Ambulance.

Mr Grant, who founded Ponteland Charity Group in 2013, has recently produced a book called Flying By the Seat of My Pants, and it proved popular with local readers as the first 60 copies produced sold out within a week.

Proceeds from the sale of the book will be shared between Tynedale Hospice at Home, which has a presence in Hexham, Ponteland and Prudhoe, and the North-East branch of the Royal Society for Blind Children. While Mr Grant has had to stop all charity work due to ill health, his daughter Linda Bell and the team at Ponteland Print have teamed up to arrange a re-print of the book.

He said: "I have been assured that although not written by a professional, the tales of an unusual life will certainly arouse a great deal of interest, leading to unexpected results. As you will understand, I am indebted to all supporters around the area."

Mr Grant's book tells his story of his eventful life on land, air and sea, from growing up in North-East Scotland to ending up residing in the North-East of England as a grandfather of five.