Alfie's Big birthday bash

EastEnders star Shane Richie has sold the rights to his 40th birthday party to the Big Issue for £1.10p.

The actor, who plays loveable landlord Alfie Moon, was offered more than £150,000 by a glossy magazine for exclusive coverage.

But he has turned them down in favour of the Big Issue, the magazine sold on the streets in aid of the homeless.

Richie is hosting the party in the garden of his home in Denham, Bucks, on March 13. The guest list will include all his EastEnders co-stars.

His agent Phil Dale said: "Shane and I were to place an exclusive celebrating Shane's 40th birthday with a major magazine for a six figure sum.

"However, following a breakdown in negotiations, and having considered other options, we have decided to give this exclusive to the Big Issue for the princely sum of £1.10 as Shane would like to put something back in to society as he was once homeless himself."

Dale said they had charged £1.10p "so that Shane can get paid £1 and I get my 10% commission".

Richie slept rough as a 16-year-old on the streets of Plymouth in 1980. He moved there on the promise of a DJ job but found himself homeless when the job offer fell through.

He was too proud to return to his family in London and slept rough for two weeks before he was arrested for vagrancy and sent back home.

It is not the first time a star has rejected a big money offer from a magazine and sold the coverage for peanuts.

Johnny Vegas sold the rights to his 2002 San Francisco wedding to Viz magazine for £1.