A charity champion has resigned from the organisation he set up - rather than see it damaged by an admission of his criminal past.

Rod Jones, 57, is stepping down as the driving force of Teesside-run Convoy Aid after concerns were raised by the Charity Commission about his past.

The ex-armed robber lists the prisons where he served time on a website in an appeal to former cellmates to come forward and help him write a book.

He wanted to donate proceeds from its sale to the fund which delivers aid to Romanian orphans.

"I did not want to mislead the public about my past, but it makes you wonder sometimes if honesty is always the best policy," said Mr Jones, who has received a letter from one of the directors of the Charities Commission who saw the website.

"My world has collapsed, yet I have done nothing wrong," he said.

Mr Jones set up Convoy Aid in 1990 in memory of his son, also called Rodney, who was killed in a car crash.

Mr Jones was sifting through his son's personal belongings when he found a letter accepting his son's offer of help to take humanitarian aid to people in Romania.

The charity turned down Mr Jones's offer to go in his son's place so he decided to go himself.

"When I got there I was not prepared for what I saw," admitted Mr Jones, whose Romanian wife, Gabriella, is a director of Convoy Aid. "A lot of people give simply because I am the founder and am so closely associated with it.

"When people see I am not responsible for Convoy Aid, will they still have the same confidence? I hope they do."

Yesterday he went to the charity's bank on Teesside and had his name cancelled as a second signatory.

A spokeswoman for the Charities Commission said: "We are still considering whether Convoy Aid should be registered as a charity with us. "