The local tourism board of Britain's Suffolk County, in seeking to attract visitors, asked residents to vote for the county's greatest icon. The plan backfired when the singer of the metal band Cradle of Filth won by a landslide.

The band's frontman, Dani Filth, also crushed "respectable" musician Brian Eno, who also lives in Suffolk. Just how popular is Dani Filth? According to the Telegraph, it wasn't even close:

Records show that Dani Filth, 37, recorded 13,025 votes by having his image clicked on the Suffolk Icons website — more than six times the votes recorded for the next most popular icon.

The poll of members of the public put the Broomhill swimming pool — a near derelict 1930s former lido in Ipswich — in second place with 2,055 votes.

Yes, a swimming pool came in second place. But while these numbers undoubtedly pleased fans of Cradle of Filth, the folks behind Choose Suffolk were not very impressed. They've changed the rules and now have 20 boring images to choose from on the website, and Dani Filth is not among them. Instead, voters must now choose between a wind turbine, a bale of hay, actors in period dress, and other incredibly lame images. A spokesman for Choose Suffolk, Richard Ginger, offered this excuse to the Telegraph about why Dani Filth was removed from the contest: "Effectively the judging panel were looking for icons which had a wider currency outside the borders of Suffolk. I don't want to speak about their decision. Their remit was to look for the icons of Suffolk." Nice work, Choose Suffolk.

Below are a few videos to help you decide what you think of Dani Filth. Shock jock? Devil worshipping villain? Or average guy from Suffolk in a spooky costume?

Dani Filth enjoying a tasty snack on tour:

Dani Filth in a rather pleasant backstage interview:

And finally, here's the video for Cradle of Filth's "The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking":

[Image via Getty]