An Ayrshire writer and poet was amazed to see his acclaimed autobiographical book selling for more than £800 on Amazon.

Henry Mair, from Irvine in North Ayrshire, who has been writing for almost five decades, saw his book Alone I Rebel, an autobiography with poems selling for £880.65.

The retired Ayrshire Metal Products Worker admitted to being flattered by his new-found fame but is still keeping his feet planted firmly on the ground.

He said: “It was my daughter Donna who contacted me to tell me aboutthe book on Amazon.

“It’s good to think a title people paid money for a long time ago is now worth so much.

“Hopefully a lot of them will keep it within their families.

“It’s the scarcity of it which has made it so valuable.

“There is obviously a market still for a small book with poetry.

“But there were struggles I was involved in to promote the book. “I went to Edinburgh, London and Moscow while I was involved in it. “The book appealed to young Russian people with its sentiments. It was only a limited edition of 1,000 so anyone who has it did well.”

The book was inspired by the death of Henry’s uncle, Peter Mair, in a Leicester doss house after years of sleeping rough.

Henry also ran the Scottish International Open Poetry Competition for around 25 years.

The event was patronised by the legendary Hugh MacDiarmid in 1972 and featured entries from MacDiarmid, Norman MacCaig and Edwin Morgan.

Henry has had hundreds of poems published over the years and the biggest influences in his life have been Robert Burns, MacDiarmid and Morgan.

He said: “It (poetry) is something which has always been in my blood. It reflects a state of mind and is a very worthwhile art.”