BOOKWORM Dave Punshon is making the supreme sacrifice to help a charity.

The 57-year-old chief executive of Age Concern, Teesside, is selling his highly collectable political history books to help the cause he has devoted the past 15 years of his life to promoting.

To raise funds, Age Concern Teesside has launched its own auctions site on eBay.

To start the venture, Mr Punshon, of Guisborough, east Cleveland, is selling a three-volume set - The Book of the Labour Party - covering the history, leaders and policies of the party leading up to the election of the first Labour Government in 1924. The books were published in 1926.

Mr Punshon said: "We have to do something to try and raise money. We are in dire straits. I thought if I put up something significant, it might encourage other people to do something similar."

He has had the collection since his student days at college, about 30 years ago. He was offered £75 for the set ten years ago.

He said of his decision to part with his books: "It is like stopping smoking. Once you make the decision, the rest is quite easy."

The collection owned by the former Cleveland County councillor includes left-wing book club selections and pamphlets on Tanzania and its first president, Julius Nyerere, the subject of his political thesis while at university.

To view the website, go to www.ac-teesside.com and click on the eBay link.