EX-SOLDIER Colin Nottingham is used to being clean cut.

But Army rules when out the window when the former private spent a year growing out his hair and beard for charity.

Colin Nottingham, who was in the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, managed to raise £2,400 for St Helena Hospice in sponsorship for his long locks before he returned to his old barefaced look.

He said: “We did for the hospice because, when a great family friend was in there, the staff were outstanding and when he died they just dealt with the situation brilliantly.

“To repay the hospice for all their help, my girlfriend Jane Harden came up with the suggestion of growing my swede for them.”

Colin was posted to Colchester in 1991 and spent three years in the town be- fore being sent on another posting. When he left the Army he moved back to Colchester.

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/colin-nottingham.