A Shropshire man’s face will soon be plastered on the region’s buses after his party trick helped him scoop top prize in a competition.
Mark Billingham, a support worker from Shifnal, realised he could impress his mates with his impersonation of Dame Edna Everage at the age of 11.
Now, at 39, he has won a look-alike competition run by TravelWise to be pasted on posters on the back of buses.
The campaign will promote buses, trains, walking and cycling as greener travel options.
Bus adverts and posters will be launched across the region in October and will encourage people to “take another look” at alternative methods of transport.
Mr Billingham started impersonating Dame Edna’s voice when he was 11 years old – and 10 years ago dressed up as Barry Humphries’s alter ego for a local boy’s football team fundraising event.
Eight years ago he sent a video of his act to an agency and has since been doing part-time work as a Dame Edna look-alike and sound-alike.
Some adverts have already appeared and Mr Billingham said the TravelWise competition has already created quite a stir. He has already achieved minor celebrity status in Shifnal.
He said: “Everyone in the village has seen me in the paper or on the TV – I can hardly walk down the street because they all want to talk to me about it. People have said for years I’ve got a face like the back of a bus and now it’s official!”
TravelWise has now photographed Mark on location next to the cathedral in Birmingham City Centre for the adverts in which he will promote walking.
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