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Jeremy Corbyn has reportedly turned down a £5,000 fund to buy the bicycle of his dreams - and will give the money to charity instead.

More than 2,000 people backed a campaign to crowdfund the Labour leader's birthday present after he said a Raleigh Criterium was his "object of desire".

Within hours the online bid had snowballed and passed the £475 cost of the bike, reaching an eye-popping £5,800 by Sunday morning.

But Mr Corbyn has apparently said he will not accept a penny of the cash - and will buy the bike as a 67th birthday treat to himself in May.

It is understood his top team has not yet worked out which charity will receive the money, but the choice could be left to the campaign's founder Tom Jordan.

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Mr Jordan began his campaign to "annoy the right-wing press" after the Telegraph reported Mr Corbyn's wish under the headline: "Socialist Jeremy Corbyn reveals he covets a £475 bicycle".

(Image: Peter Nicholls/Reuters)

He has already suggested the funds should be given to Calais Action, which helps refugees stuck in squalid camps near the French port.

He wrote : "People are sleeping in tents that are submerged in inches of water. It is cold, wet, muddy and rat infested and the dropping temperature is going to be extremely problematic.

"Giving aid to refugees abroad is a perfect way to stick it to the right wing press."

Mr Corbyn made his comments in a wide-randing interview with the Independent on Sunday .

He also revealed he calls the cat he shares with Spanish-speaking wife Laura Alvarez "El Gato" - the Spanish for cat.

He said: "When I see the cat I say, ‘Buenos dias, El Gato’. Actually, cats don’t know their name, cats know voices.

"What he does respond to when I ask him to come in, is the tune of ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’. I whistle to it. I can’t sing, you see.

"I was out carol singing the other week, collecting money for Oxfam, and after a while they asked me to stop singing and said we’d rather you hold the bucket as you’re putting people off with the singing."

(Image: PA)

He also said he has no plans to award a peerage to Ken Livingstone after the irascible left-winger was dropped from writing Labour's defence review .

He spoke at length about his Christian upbringing, attending church every Sunday until the age of 14, but said he is now a "sceptic" about God.

And he agreed to claims the Tories are trying to "skew the system permanently" by sneaking through laws and cutting opposition funds .

He said: "That’s what it looks like to me. If you add it all up, it’s not good."