A GOOD citizen found himself locked up in a prison cell at the weekend - at his own request.

Stephen Clark, 39, asked for no special treatment when he handed himself over to the police on Friday evening for a 24-hour stint in a dark and dingy cell.

The customer service advisor for npower wrote to Cleveland Police with his request, to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Relief.

Both his parents and a friend died from cancer and Mr Clark hopes his challenge raises as much money as possible for the charity.

Mr Clark, of Coxhoe, County Durham, said: "This is the second year that I have done it.

"Last year, I did it for about eight to ten hours, but this year, the idea was to do 24 hours."

Mr Clark was locked up at Billingham Police Station from 5pm to 10pm on Friday, 8am to 9.30pm on Saturday and 1pm to 7pm on Sunday.

He said: "It is just me being uncomfortable for 24 hours - a cancer sufferer is uncomfortable for a lot longer."

Sergeant Jim Mason, of Billingham's neighbourhood policing team, said: "I thought he must be stark-raving bonkers.

"He asked us to stick to the rule book - only to visit him once an hour and not to give him any special treatment.

"The heating has been off for some time, and it is cold down there."