But when news of his big Four-O leaked out to colleagues at a Leeds advertising firm, they had other ideas.

* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from Wortley Today.

The result is a giant 3m by 6m poster of Rob on Oldfield Lane, Wortley.
The picture – taken at a works Christmas do – is one of Rob "not looking his best" and wishes him a happy 40th from friends at the firm, Titan Outdoor.

Told to meet an important client at the site, an embarrassed Rob instead was greeted by colleagues.

He told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "I wanted this day to go unnoticed but it's just not going to happen now! It's cheeky.
"I had an inkling about this and saw it from Tong Road and thought someone's been sneaky here.

"A lot of work people are going to see it, but at least my parents won't."

Colleagues have also put the image onto the firm's internal programme, Titan TV, shown in all the branch offices as far afield as the US.

Colleague Anne Lemmon said: "We thought it'd be the ultimate humiliation to get it into the Yorkshire Evening Post for everyone to see. It's a standing joke within the Leeds office and our Liverpool office that Robert is not very, well shall we say, over the moon that he is turning 40."

And Sue Martin added: "Rob is so against his birthday, he sulked when he was 30 and now he's 40 we thought we would have a laugh.

"He wanted to keep it a secret, he's been so miserable! We've been
planning it for about a month and everyone's in on it.
"We thought he'd go mad, but he's taken it really well."

The group work for Titan Outdoor Leeds, which sells advertising space on billboards across the region.