Recovering in hospital, Andre Attard was overjoyed when his colleagues turned up with the offer of 100 days extra leave, instead of flowers and chocolates.

Their gesture was timely as the 22-year-old, who works in the Prime Minister's Secretariat, had just used all his vacation and sick leave but needed more time for the serious operations lined up that would leave him convalescing for long periods.

So 19 of his colleagues pooled in to donate 100 days for Mr Attard, which amounts to 20 weeks of leave.

"It was a great surprise when they told me about the 100 days of leave - I realised what good work colleagues I have," he said, when contacted.

Mr Attard suffers from a serious medical condition in his back that has left him dependent on a pair of crutches. Although he refused to go into any details about his problems, he said he needed a number of serious operations that would entail long recovery periods.

In fact, he just emerged from a six-week recovery period after an operation where he spent three weeks in hospital and three at home. Plus, he was recently informed he would need another operation soon after the New Year.

All this does not stop him from having an active social life. He drives to his office in Castille every day, where he works on reduced hours as a receptionist.

The possibility of donating leave was introduced a year ago for people working in the civil service. It allows government employees to donate vacation leave to colleagues who need to care for a sick relative or suffer from an illness.

Reacting to the surprise gift, Mr Attard said: "They called me when I was recovering at home and it was a huge boost - I didn't expect it at all and really appreciated it."

Mr Attard encouraged other government employees to take up the initiative and donate their leave to others who had a pressing need.

"Like me, there are others who require leave urgently and I encourage people to donate some of their leave - it really makes a difference," he said.