PETERBOROUGH owner Rick Frost is a front-runner as Peterborough's Sports Personality of the Year after turning around the city's speedway clubFrost has just completed his first full season in charge of the Panthers and is among the nominations in the Evening Telegraph Sports Awards.

PETERBOROUGH owner Rick Frost is a front-runner as Peterborough's Sports Personality of the Year after turning around the city's speedway club

Frost has just completed his first full season in charge of the Panthers and is among the nominations in the Evening Telegraph Sports Awards.

He is in a fight with Peterborough United chairman Darragh McAnthony and ex-Posh boss Darren Ferguson for the top honour which will be decided by readers of the city's evening paper.

Panthers' skipper and Rider of the Year Niels-Kristian Iversen and teammate Kenneth Bjerre - who finished eighth in the World Championship Grand Prix series - are also in the frame for awards as Sportsman of the Year.

The Panthers have a long record of success in the awards - one of the highlights of the Peterborough sporting year - with Panthers being voted Team of the Year in 1998, 1999 and 2006.

Ryan Sullivan (1999) and Hans Andersen (2006) are former Sports Personality of the Year winners while Glenn Cunningham (1998), Jason Crump (1999) and Hans Andersen (2006) were the readers' choice as Sportsman of the Year.

Fans can vote by using the form that will appear regularly in the local Peterborough Evening Telegraph or by text up until the closing date of January 22, 2010.

To vote by text for your favourite you should text:

PETSAWARDS (space) and then the abbreviated initials of the category/ies (SP for Sports Personality; SM for Sportsman of the Year) along with the surname of your selection) and send to 81800.

For example if you want to vote for Rick and Kenneth then text PETSAWARDS SPFrostSMBjerre and if you want to vote for Rick and Niels you should text PETSAWARDS SPFrostSMIversen.

Texts cost 25p plus any normal network rates. If you do not want to receive information on any offer, products or services, please text the word STOP at the end of your messages.

Please note that text votes this year will be restricted to five votes per phone number.

The top three with the most votes in each category will be invited to attend a glitzy sporting evening at the Holiday Inn in Peterborough on February 12 when the winners, decided by a panel of experts, will be announced.

This year the Panthers are also sponsoring the Junior Sportsman of the Year Award through Rick Frost and Julie Mahoney of club owners and sponsors Readypower Engineering Limited.