Piper beaten in town's popularity poll

Billie Piper has been beaten to first place in a popularity poll of Swindon, England residents – a local authority official took the place instead.

The actress upset fans in her home town last year when she left a book signing before many of those who had queued for hours had a chance to meet her.

But councillor Roderick Bluh still declared himself “a little bit stunned” at beating Ms Piper to become the town’s “Person of the Year“.

He was the runaway favourite with 52% of the vote in the poll run by the Swindon Advertiser newspaper compared with Ms Piper’s 14%.

He said: “It isn’t usually middle-aged politicians who win these type of polls. To be honest I’m a little bit stunned, but I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to vote for me.”

The Advertiser said that since becoming council leader, cllr Bluh “has ensured that big steps have been taken towards regeneration of the town centre, started talks about restoring the canal and worked to make sure the council is meeting its 50 promises to Swindon’s residents“.

Cllr Bluh added: “I have a passion and vision for the town, which perhaps those who voted for me have recognised.

“We’re only at the start of the process though and there is an awful lot of hard work ahead, but if we all pull together I truly believe that Swindon has a great future ahead of it.”