A customised coat used by a Leek man to cheat new Ryanair baggage rules is being auctioned off for charity.
Jetsetter Lee Cimino, 30, was heading to Belfast for his birthday when the budget airline updated it’s baggage rules, which now means you have to pay for your carry-on cabin bag.
Lee was furious at the new rules, but discovered a loophole in the policy and came up with a crafty way of getting around the new baggage charge.
Whilst Ryanair now charges for the luxury of your cabin bag, the policy does not say anything about customised coats.
Lee found an old coat in the back of his wardrobe and headed down to Tunstall tailors Sew Wot?
He asked them if they would be able to modify the coat with compartments made of boxer shorts in order to fit a cabin bag’s worth of luggage into.
The coat contained space for shoes, clothes, a towel and toiletries, alongside a plastic bag for liquids to meet the airport security guidelines.
Despite literally wearing all of his clothes for the weekend, he didn’t look like Joey from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and said the jacket was actually comfortable. 
Lee said: “The coat fitted comfortably with all of the stuff in it and I even wore it around Belfast until we got to our accommodation.”
The video he posted online preparing for his birthday weekend went viral, and was seen by millions of people on social media.
“No one commented as I was getting on the plane, and going through airport security wasn’t hard either, I just took it off and put it in the tray.
“There was no scene created because we weren’t trying to make a scene, we just wanted to do it in a discreet manner to see if we could and to prove that you could get onto the plane still carrying what you needed.”
Now Lee is auctioning the famous custom coat off on eBay to raise money for University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) charity.
The charity supports the Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford.
The internet sensation will now go on to help fund equipment, facilities and research at the hospitals.
The fee Lee paid to Sew Wot to create the coat has also been donated to charity.
The bidding on eBay has already surpassed £50, with still a week left to go.
Lee chose UHNM as his chosen charity after they helped him recover from ‘a near life-ending injury’.
He said: “I was hospitalised in a coma in July 2009 and have never yet raised awareness of their good work.
“I thought this was a good opportunity to raise some money and donate.”
View the video that went viral here:
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