A man suffering from alopecia has come up with a novel way of raising money for charity – by using his bald patch as advertising space.

After coming down with a stress-related version of hair-loss, 27-year-old Matt Stafford decided to get creative with the worst-affected area just above his ear.

So he headed onto eBay and began auctioning off the space to the highest bidder for one week periods.

Mr Stafford, who works for a creative ad agency in the Truman Brewery, Spitalfields, said: “I thought I would be getting stares through this massive bald patch anyway so I might as well do something positive with it.

“I’ve been given a steroid cream to use but I’m not too scared about the hair not growing back. I can put it on the backburner. This is my priority for now.”

The ads are tattooed onto his head with temporary prints.

All the funds raised are to go towards the Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides wigs for children who have undergone chemotherapy.

Mr Stafford has called his campaign the “Baldin Billboard” and is planning to carry on auctioning off the patch.

The first successful bidder, communications specialist Doremus, earned him �215 for the charity.