Kind-hearted Nick, who runs the New Inn on Town Street, collected nearly 200 Easter eggs for children in local hospitals and homes.

Nick said: "The support from the local community has been brilliant.

"I woke up one morning to find a small collection of eggs left by customers and I ended up with eight or nine bin liners full of them."

His heart-warming efforts took place even though he is suffering from a rare brain tumour.

Last week he had just finished five gruelling weeks of intensive radiotherapy at the Yorkshire Cancer Centre in Leeds, but this did not stop him from collecting the eggs.

They were handed out to children at the Bexley wing of St James's Hospital, and residents at Champion House in Calverley and St Luke's nursing home.

"I just hope the eggs will bring a smile to someone's face at Easter," he said.

"I would like to say a massive thank you to my regulars, friends and the strangers who have donated. It has been just marvellous."

His tumour was diagnosed through a chance meeting over a pint with an off-duty doctor.

Nick told him about his headaches which he put down to stress.

But a few days later he received a letter in the post from the doctor.

As a result, Nick was diagnosed immediately as having a rare condition called Acromegaly.

The tumour could have been growing for 15 years without him knowing.

Symptoms include enlarged hands and feet, thickened skin and gaps have developed between his teeth because his jaw has grown forward.

Nick said: "At the end of the day you just have to get on with things because there are people that are a lot worse off than myself.

"While the condition is not life-threatening it is certainly life-shortening.

"I have found the treatment gruelling, so children must find it quite scary.

"So I hope that by handing out these Easter eggs that I will help to brighten up someone's day."