VETERAN actor Peter Sallis has thrown away his white stick.
And fans of BBC's Last of the Summer Wine - filmed around the Holme Valley - have been assured he is not going blind and will be in the new series.
It's the end of a rumour that started as a joke and got out of hand.
The wit and wisdom of Clegg, played by Peter for 31 years, has helped the comedy become a national institution.
Clegg's dry, dead-pan humour is now winning new fans in America where the show has become cult viewing.
He is just as droll off screen, say pals - and that's what sparked rumours he was going blind.
They started after he tapped his way around London with a white stick.
Friends and fellow members of the cast of Summer Wine were aware he had a problem with cataracts.
The white stick led them to assume the worst.
Summer Wine producer Alan J W Bell and writer-creator Roy Clarke know they are working with an ageing cast and the prospect of schedule-wrecking sudden illness.
They use doubles of Peter and Frank Thornton, also 82, for long-shot walking scenes.
Happily, Peter arrived (with his white stick) for lunch with Alan to explain everything. Like most senior citizens he was having trouble dodging the throng in busy London streets. So, to create himself a bit of leeway, he got himself a white stick.
He told Alan, who has directed the show for 22 years: "Folk are so considerate. I don't have to keep dodging them. They give me a wide berth."
The good news is the cataracts have been removed and Peter is in all 11 of the new series. He is also in the Christmas Special tomorrow on BBC1 at 6.15pm and all 10 episodes, shot this year for screening early in the new year.
He is also busy with his other role - as the voice of Wallace in a new Wallace and Grommit feature film due to be completed in two years' time.
Roy Clarke said: "Naturally there is always concern for the well-being of our cast - about 16 of them - especially the oldest members. Peter is a very funny man and just as entertaining off screen."
