A man has decided to keep his growing collection of odd socks for another year in case the other turn up.

Steve Walshe has no idea where the missing socks get to, although he suspects his wife somehow loses them between the time he leaves them on the bedroom floor to when they mysteriously reappear, nice and clean in his drawer a day or so later.

There is also a possibility that the dog eats them as he found some dog poo in the garden with what looks like a white ankle sock embedded within it.

Even so, Steve, from Woodbridge, cannot bring himself to throw the odd socks away and make some space in the drawer.

Odd socks

There are currently 14 odd socks.

“Why would I waste money buying new socks when the others will probably turn up soon enough?” he asked.

“My wife keeps nagging me to do so, but I haven’t seen her rushing to throw away the dozens of tuppaware boxes and lids that don’t match in the kitchen cupboard.”

Sock specialist Lorraine Fisher, 34, said Steve should just bite the bullet.

“Men become attached to their socks. Especially ones that they think are cool but really make them look lame.

“In these cases it’s often best to be cruel to be kind, and simply throw them all in the bin when he’s out.”