SALE based charity champion Peter Robinson nearly had a flight to remember recently - for all the wrong reasons.

Travelling home from his holiday retreat in Spain he was pulled up by one of the local check-in staff because one of his suitcases was too heavy.

But what this worker didn't realise was that this piece of luggage contained a precious cargo - one million stamps destined for the Guide Dogs For the Blind Association.

The organisation uses the stamps to buy dogs for people with visual impairments and Peter found himself facing a £150 excess baggage charge.

"You're only allowed 20 kilos in your luggage and my case weighed thirty eight. Fortunately, the girl from Monarch Airlines recognised me and she had a word with the bloke and I was allowed through," he says.

The donations flooded in after Peter issued an appeal on local TV and the airline representative recognised him from that broadcast.

Members of the six branches of the Royal British Legion, part of the 200,000 strong ex-pat community on the Costa Del Sol donated some of the stamps, bringing to two billion the number of stamps collected by Peter so far. A total of 36 dogs have been supplied to blind people as a result of his efforts. One collector near Gibraltar gave him a staggering 28 kilos of stamps.

So overwhelming was the response that he was forced to leave 60,000 stamps behind because he was unable to carry them.

Pictured above - Peter Robinson