Many thanks to those good people in Hove who were so generous when I was collecting for the Muscular Dystrophy charity outside Tesco's the other week - and my apologies for my apparent aggressiveness.

In just two hours of collecting I was given £66, all of which goes to the charity’s work in researching this horrible disease and providing counseling and care for sufferers and their families.

A few days later, I was reading the new rules about charity collecting - not that I felt I needed to as I have been collecting for charities over 40 years and feel I should know them. But to my surprise one of the rules is that you should not rattle your collection box or call out as this is regarded as “aggressive canvassing”.

If this is so, it would seem to me that our streets are full of “aggressive canvassers” whether it be: Big Issue sellers, beggars, chuggers, political and religious campaigners, people giving out leaflets and people trying to get us to buy something.

This being the case, I shall take no notice of the new rule and shall carry on rattling my box and occasionely calling out to appeal for donations, and if you think I'm being aggressive when I'm on the street collecting for Muscular Dystrophy or one of the other charities I support, you can come over and punch me.