When great-great grandad Eddie Streetly celebrated his 90th birthday he decided to “gift” his gifts to the Telegraph & Argus Crocus Cancer Appeal.

Instead of receiving presents, the former council refuse collector asked family and friends to make a donation to the Bradford appeal that could change the lives of cancer patients all over the globe.

After a party earlier this month, £170 had been donated by family and friends in place of presents which put a big smile on Mr Streetly’s face, said his daughter Catherine Crowther.

Mr Streetly, of Goodwin House in Queensbury, has bowel cancer and wanted to mark his birthday by helping a good cause.

The money raised by the appeal will go towards the £1 million target needed to buy scientists at Bradford University’s Institute of Cancer Therapeutics (ICT) a new, state-of-the-art mass pro-teomic spectrometer so they can study the role of proteins in cancer ten times quicker than ever before.

This could hold the key to developing new ways to treat the disease without the side-effects associated with chemotherapy, potentially transforming the lives of patients across the world.

Mrs Crowther said: “Because dad has cancer it made his gesture even more poignant. He said he didn’t need a lot of presents and wanted to give to charity.

“He’s a keen T&A reader so we knew all about the Crocus Appeal - it just fit the bill. We’re happy and proud to be supporting it and especially proud of dad.”

Mr Streetly has spent more than 50 years living in Bradford but hailed from Battersea - he supported Speedway in Wimbledon and had travelled up to Bradford for a meet at Odsal where he first met his future wife.

They started a long-distance courtship and settled in London before moving back up north to be in Bradford. He worked for 25 years as a refuse collector with Bradford Council before retiring to be his wife’s carer after she had a stroke.