Elaine MaslinAn iconic album cover designed in Norfolk has been given the First Class seal approval of Royal Mail after being picked to feature in their first special edition stamp collection of 2010, to be issued on Thursday.Elaine Maslin

An iconic album cover designed in Norfolk has been given the First Class seal approval of Royal Mail after being picked to feature in their first special edition stamp collection of 2010, to be issued on Thursday.

The legendary 1970s album cover of David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, was designed by a Norfolk-based illustrator Terry Pastor.

Mr Pastor, who lived and did much of his work in a studio on Gooseberry Hill in Swanton Morley and now lives in Suffolk, also designed Bowie's earlier Hunky Dory album cover.

'David used to go completely unrecognised,' he said. 'But, following the release of Ziggy Stardust he became a mega-star and would get mobbed if he appeared anywhere in public.'

Mr Pastor went on to design book covers for author's including sci-fi writer Arthur C Clark, Jeffrey Archer, Mickey Spillane, Michael Crichton and more.

The other albums in the Classic Album Covers set, which covers four decades from the 1960s, are: The Division Bell by Pink Floyd; A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay; Parklife by Blur; Power, Corruption and Lies by New Order; Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones; Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield; Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin; Screamadelica by Primal Scream.