The spud has been voted the vegetable people in the UK would most like to be the national emblem of England.

The potato beat Wimbledon favourite the strawberry and brussel sprouts to the title in a survey carried out by AXA PPP healthcare’s Nutrition and Fitness website.

More than 3000 people took part in the survey exploring consumer preferences for fruit and vegetables, their purchasing criteria and knowledge of provenance.

A quarter of people questioned wrongly believed the tuber to be native to the UK.