There's some good news this morning for our readers from the Emerald Isle: their Irish brogue has topped a poll of 5,000 women worldwide to emerge as the world's sexiest accent.

The result of the www.OnePoll.com survey demonstrated that our sweet-talking Irish cousins boast the most mellifluous tones, pipping the smooth-talking Italians into second place. The "Scottish burr" was honoured in third spot, thanks to the likes of Sean Connery, the Telegraph explains, rather than Rab C. Nesbitt.

French, meanwhile, has fallen from grace somewhat, demoted to fourth position. The spokesman agreeably explained: "The French accent is nowhere near as popular as it used to be. You can probably blame Nicolas Sarkozy for that, he has single-handedly changed the perception of how the world sees French men."

Of course, you're all wondering how our beloved English accent fared against strong international competition. Sixth place is the answer, after the seductive Aussie lilt.

Here's the full top ten:

1. Irish
2. Italian
3. Scottish
4. French
5. Australian
6. English
7. Swedish
8. Spanish
9. Welsh
10. American

For the record, OnePoll's probe "also found three fifths of women admitted they had been seduced by someone purely because of their accent, while two fifths said they would much rather sleep with a man who had a nice accent, compared to a harsh one". South Africans have our sympathy. ®

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