A pensioner from Den Helder who was clearing out his attic has won a colouring competition, 50 years after the closing date, the AD reports on Wednesday.

Bart de Does, who is 66, came across the drawing which he had half-completed as a boy and decided to send it to peanut butter maker Calvé anyway.

‘I heard my father saying to me, “just once finish something”, so I put it in an envelope and sent it away,’ De Does told the AD.

The competition closed on February 28, 1963 but De Does nevertheless received flowers and some jars of peanut butter for his trouble.

Bike

‘We were so touched when we got the picture, it did the rounds of the office,’ Unilever spokeswoman Karin Koornneef told the AD. ‘We were so enthusiastic we decided to do something more.’

The orginal prize was a bike with back-pedal brakes and Unilever decided to give De Does his due, and get a PR boost into the bargain, by shipping him a brand new bike with gears and modern hand brakes.

‘This is a one-off so there is no point looking around in your attic,’ Koornneef told the paper.