THERE'S nothing special about them. They are just feet. Like most people he has ten toes.

What makes Rod Jones's feet stand out is he never wears shoes or socks.

He just wears open toed sandals, even in temperatures of minus 35.

That is why the charity worker reckons he probably has one of the most photographed pairs of feet in Europe.

The sight of a hirsute, 25 stone man striding through snow, puddles and mire with nothing on his feet but sandals brings out the cameras of tourists and local inhabitants alike.

"Having a heart problem my feet sometimes swell up, but I started wearing just sandals before my heart problem. I just get up on a morning, put my sandals on and that's it,'' said 55-year-old Rod, founder of Teesside based Convoy Aid.

Volunteers who have gone with him on his trips hauling essential aid to orphanages in Romania have been wearing boots and thick hiking socks and still suffered frost bite. But never Rod.

"It's funny, my shoulders, neck, head and hands get cold, but my feet never get cold,'' said Rod who has battled through the ice and snow of the Carpathian Mountains for the last 12 winters in his truck, wearing nothing more than sandals on his feet.

"I'll walk through deep snow, jump straight down from the cab into a puddle of water, no problem.

"I must have the most photographed feet in Europe. I have been photographed with my feet in Bosnia, Romania, France, Belgium and Austria,'' said Rod. "People just look at me in my sandals and think I am mad. But it is just a thing with me.''

The stares start on the ferry. Rod cuts an imposing figure measuring six feet, two inches in height and a 58 inch chest, long beard and pony tail. But everyone's eyes soon drop to his feet.

"When take my sandals off you can seen the bars the sun has made on them. The pigmentation has changed over the years.''

A more suitably attired volunteer suffered frostbite despite having well shod feet, just last year.

"I don't know what it is with my feet, but they never feel the cold. I have no idea why,'' said Rod, who usually walks his way through three pairs of sandals a year, bought at his local Asda.