A Sidmouth man whose car is overflowing with the newspapers he collects for charity had a tow bar fitted for free – and now he is appealing for a trailer.

Mike Rock is at capacity, singlehandedly collecting about a tonne of paper each week so Dream-A-Way can get a payout from Devon County Council (DCC).

To help out, Hamilton Garage in Sidford fitted a £500 removable tow bar for free when he collected his new car this week.

“I’m a victim of my own success – I’ve gone from collecting 100kg a week to a tonne, and a lot of other people want me to collect as well,” said Mike.

“I’ve had such a massive response – the demand is there, we just need the facilities.”

The charity gets rewarded for boosting DCC’s recycling efforts, and businesses cut the cost of having the paper collected.

“This benefits everyone,” said Mike, who is among just a handful of volunteers who collect paper for Dream-A-Way.

He is currently taking three full car-loads a week to the Marsh Barton recycling centre.

“A trailer would make such a difference for the charity,” Mike added.

When he isn’t using the trailer, it can be used by one of the other volunteers across the county – and none of them claim expenses.

Mike helps out to repay the charity that helped his family, as he has three autistic children and Dream-A-Way provided respite care.

Sales manager Terry Jennings said: “Mike showed us the work he is doing and we came to the conclusion it would be something nice to do for a local charity.”

He said they were always happy to consider requests for help on a local level.

Mike is asking for anyone who has a trailer that they no longer need to call him on 07850 456945.