Mick Butcher may have left school at 14 without any qualifications but

almost 60 years later the grandfather has passed his first GCSE after studying for just a year.

Mr Butcher, 73, received the result of his English exam on Friday after an anxious wait.

He said: "I was waiting at the garden gate for the postman. I told him what I was waiting for and he said, 'Good for you'."

Mr Butcher, who retired eight years ago after spending more than 27 years with East Sussex County Council's road safety department, achieved a grade C.

He said: "I would have hoped for a B but I'll settle for the C. I was getting straight As for my homework."

When Mr Butcher retired he had hoped to improve his golf handicap but Parkinson's disease ended that dream.

At the suggestion of his eldest granddaughter, Zoe Godfrey, 18, he took up study.

Zoe, from Denton, Newhaven, passed three A-levels this year.

Mr Butcher, of Denton Rise, Newhaven, said: "I failed my 11-plus so I stayed at the village school in Fletching.

"We learnt the three Rs but I didn't do any exams."

After retiring, father-of-two Mr Butcher, who has been married to Rosemary for 48 years, penned a book about his childhood in Fletching.

Mr Butcher, who passed a City & Guilds in English comprehension at grade A last year, studied for his GCSE at Sussex Downs College's Denton Island campus in Newhaven.

He was allowed to use a computer because his condition has affected his handwriting.

He said: "People should persevere with their education. It has opened up a new life for me.

"I've had poems published and I'm now going to learn French."