THE modest Brussels sprout was continuing to raise money for charity last night.

After the sale of a leftover Darlington sprout raised £99.50 for Christian Aid charity, Tearfund, the baton of the new Internet craze was taken up by a man from Stockton.

Leigh Knight's prized vegetable was the subject of a bidding war on auction site eBay, with the price tag standing at a phenomenal £1,550.

Proceeds from the sale have been promised to Cancer Research UK.

The first seller, from Darlington, known only as Andrew, started the craze when he put an unwanted sprout up for sale on Christmas Day. He said: "I had the idea over dinner with the family. As a family, we do support Tearfund and I felt it would be good to use this leftover sprout to support Tearfund."

His sprout was yesterday being delivered first class to its buyer, Phil, from Wiltshire. Phil said: "After careful consideration of the fact that the sprout had no value other than the money that it would donate, I bid. Most people would think it a totally crazy thing to do."

Jonathan Spencer at Tearfund said: "We applaud Andrew for his very thoughtful initiative. There are so many needy people who struggle to get one adequate meal a day. For the many families and communities that Tearfund work with in some of the world's poorest countries, there is little hope of anything more."

After publicity over the sale, Leigh immediately pledged the profits of his sprout, named Nicholas, to Cancer Research UK.

As the bids reached £1,550, the 18-year-old heating parts specialist said: "When I was first bid 99p I thought 'Someone's got more money than sense'.

"But now it is a crazy amount of money and I could not contemplate keeping it, so it is going to charity."

Bidding will close at 6.37pm on Saturday.

An eBay spokesman said bids were legally binding and that it could step in if a complaint were lodged. It could not comment on whether bids were genuine.