WHEN Suffolk residents were asked to identify their icons of the county, most people expected traditional favourites such as the Suffolk Punch, the Heritage Coast and Adnams and Greene King beers to feature prominently.

As expected, all of these have been put forward to the Suffolk Icons website, but also in the current top 10 is an extremely unlikely icon – the self-styled “crypt-crawling” frontman of “death metal” rock band, Cradle of Filth.

According to Suffolk folk, the one-time Hadleigh-based rocker Mr Dani Filth is a true icon of the county.

He has been put forward as one of the most iconic things about Suffolk and has been backed by nearly 200 visitors to the website.

The 37-year-old star is in the top 10 on the site, alongside a pint of Southwold-brewed Adnams ale, a mighty Suffolk Punch horse, the coastline’s famous beach huts and the idyllic Dunwich Heath.

The site was set-up by Choose Suffolk, a partnership aimed at putting the county “on the map”, and tourism manager Alex Paul said that the submission of Dani as an “icon” showed that there was more to Suffolk than just the traditional beauty spots.

He said: “The website has produced a great range of images and features of Suffolk. It’s a creative tool. We didn’t know what to expect because nothing like this has ever been done before.

“What’s great is it’s not just the obvious ones, there are unusual ones that are just as valid. There’s no right or wrong here, although we are going to pull a few out.

“It’s about everyone’s voices being heard. It’s not about going for the obvious and people feel that Dani Filth is an icon and is as important to people as a pint of Adnams.”

Cradle of Filth have consistently been one of the biggest-selling and most successful British heavy metal bands since releasing breakthrough album Dusk... and Her Embrace in 1996.

The feedback people submit to the website will eventually be used to help Choose Suffolk to work with journalists expected to come to England during the 2012 Olympic Games.

By helping to provide details about some of Suffolk’s iconic places and people, Mr Paul said he hoped to attract journalists to the county during the games and offer them story ideas to complement the sporting coverage.

He said: “About 40,000 journalists are expected to come over for the games and we are hoping that a proportion of those will be coming to enjoy Suffolk.

“This will give us stories and other ideas to give to journalists and help put Suffolk on the map in places that we want more people to visit us from.”

For more information about Choose Suffolk visit www.choosesuffolk.co.uk and to find out more about the Suffolk Icons project, visit www.suffolkicons.co.uk