British holocaust hero Nicholas Winton stamp campaign

Sir Nicholas Winton is credited with rescuing 669 Czech children from the Nazis

Thousands of people have backed a campaign for a hero who saved hundreds of children during the Holocaust to be immortalised on a stamp.

The petition calls for the honour to be given to the late Nicholas Winton, who died last month aged 106 and was known as "Britain's Schindler".

Royal Mail said Sir Nicholas, from Berkshire, was "definitely among the subjects for future consideration".

The campaign has been organised by Jewish News.

Backers include Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and MPs including Conservative ex-minister Eric Pickles and Labour MP Gisela Stuart.

Rabbi Mirvis said: "We frequently quote that famous truism 'all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing', yet we are rarely blessed to come across an individual who so emphatically triumphed over evil with such dignity and character."

Jewish News editor Justin Cohen said: "We hoped to get many thousands supporting us but it has gone well beyond our readership and well beyond the UK as well."

Sir Nicholas, who lived near Maidenhead, told no one about his pre-war efforts for half a century.

The Englishman who saved children during the Holocaust

Nicholas Winton photographed with one of the children he rescued in 1939

• Sir Nicholas was born Nicholas Wertheimer in 1909 to Jewish parents

• By 1938 he was a young stockbroker in London

• He dropped everything to go to Prague to help Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi occupation

• Sir Nicholas organised foster families for Jewish children in Britain, placing adverts in newspapers

• The 669 children travelled on eight trains across four countries

• Sir Nicholas's team persuaded British custom officials to allow all the children in despite incomplete documentation

Discover how Nicholas Winton pulled off such a dangerous escape plan

He was reunited with some of the children on Esther Rantzen's That's Life TV programme in 1988, after his wife Grete found an old briefcase in the attic with lists of children and letters from their parents.

There is a statue of Sir Nicholas at Maidenhead station and he was knighted by the Queen in 2003.

The petition has now attracted more than 67,000 signatures.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: "Every year we consider hundreds of subjects for inclusion in the stamp programme.

"While we do not currently have plans to feature Sir Nicholas on a stamp, he is definitely among the subjects for future consideration."