A GARDENING enthusiast who sold flower pots from a 26ft tall flower tower he built in front of his house is delighted after raising £1,000 for the British Heart Foundation.

Edward Hayes, aged 72, of Gibbs Road, Beechwood, Newport, showed off his impressive tower creation to the Argus last year.

The structure took three months to complete and is made of six steel sections, welded together and made from recycled old office desks.

On July 4 and 5 Mr Hayes sold 30 of his pots from his home along with smaller pots and fertiliser at an event which raised £710 for the charity.

“I made it up to £1,000 by being filmed for an ITV programme ‘guess this house’ and they gave me £200 to go to British Heart Foundation,” Mr Hayes said.

“The £710 was raised from the plant sale and I still have 150 pots of flowers to sell so I have decided to sell them at Pill Market on Saturday.”

Mr Hayes decided to take on the BHF fundraising challenge as the charity helped him following his own heart surgery.

Speaking to the Argus earlier this year Mr Hayes said: “I had a triple bypass nearly eight years ago and I feel fantastic.

“I really believe in what the BHF are doing and I hope, with the help of the Argus, that we can get people from all over to take come and take a look at the tower.”

About 16ft of the tower, which is at the end of Mr Hayes’ drive, can be seen from the road and turned a few heads when it was covered with lights at Christmas time.