Devon & Cornwall

Cheryl Cole is best bus companion (plus, how likely are you to find love on the bus?)

Its unanimous: men and women in the South West agree that Cheryl Cole would be the best celebrity bus companion. The Newcastle-born lass proved she has the X-factor as she recently topped a poll commissioned by First UK Bus to find out who people would like to sit next to on the back seat of a bus with on Valentines Day. The sexes disagreed on male companions though with women favouring the looks and charm of George Clooney (16% of vote), David Tennant (14%) and Brad Pitt (13%), while men preferred to be entertained on the way to work with the likes of Peter Kay (14%), Vernon Kay (13%) and Stephen Fry (9%).

The results prove that Ms Cole has achieved the seemingly impossible: being a person that both girls want to be friends with and boys want to go out with.

Despite their recent appearances on Celebrity Big Brother, Verne Troyer (best known for his role as Mini-me in the Austin Powers films) and La Toya Jackson came bottom of the poll, with just 2% of people wanting to sit next to the American actor and stunt man, and less than 1% wanting to spend time with La Toya.

The poll, which surveyed 3,000 people in the UK, also found that in many UK cities " including several in the South West - more people are finding future partners on the bus than through online dating sites or while on holiday / travelling. Topping the lists of places where a bus ride is likely to lead to love is Wolverhampton with 13% of people finding a partner on public transport, compared with none of those surveyed finding love online.

1. Wolverhampton: 13% found love on public transport compared with 0% on holiday, 0% online
2. Belfast: 11% compared with 4% on holiday, 7% online
3. Newcastle: 8% compared with 5% on holiday, 5% online
4. Brighton and Hove: 5% compared with 0% on holiday, 3% online
5. Bristol: 5% compared with 5% on holiday, 8% online
6. Sheffield: 4% compared with 3% on holiday, 6% online
7. Southampton: 4% compared with 3%
8. Oxford: 4% compared with 4% on holiday, 0% online
9. Aberdeen: 2% compared with 6% on holiday, 0% online
10. Plymouth: 2% compared with 6% on holiday, 2% online

Notably, of those surveyed, 59% of men (34% women) said theyd previously spotted someone theyd fancied on a bus, with 36% of men (19% women) saying they had sometimes flirted with a member of the opposite sex during a journey. And for those who went on to ask someone out (23% men, 9% women) 30% of all relationships lasted for a couple of months, with some even leading to marriage (4%). Marriage hotspots (percentage of people who married following a meeting on a bus / at a bus stop) are:

1. Aberystwyth: 50%
2. Norwich: 29%
3. Glasgow: 21%
4. Oxford & Wolverhampton: 14%
5. Leeds & Cardiff: 13%
6. Birmingham: 11%
7. Leicester: 8%
8. Sheffield: 6%
9. Bristol: 4%
10. London: 1%

Marc Reddy, Managing Director First Devon & Cornwall, says: "Whilst clearly many people still find their partner at work or through friends, it is interesting to see that in some places more people have found lasting love on public transport than through online dating sites. In these cash-strapped times, I think people can take heart from the results of this poll, confidently cutting their subscriptions to expensive online dating sites in favour of taking a trip on the bus; it could be the most exciting journey of their lives!'

And love might not be the only thing you find on the bus this Valentines Day" you might get a warm and cosy feeling too thanks to a special giveaway. In the run up to the big day First will be handing out heart-shaped hand warmers to many of its customers. Marc Reddy continues: "Weve had a number of special hand warmers made and well be at various locations throughout the UK on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 February handing them out to our customers. They are our Valentines gift to our customers, underlining how much we care and sharing some love and warmth!'

First is the UKs largest bus operator running one in five local services. For more information about First or any of its local bus operations, log onto: www.firstgroup.com.

The survey, commissioned by First UK Bus, the UKs largest bus operator, was conducted between 23 " 27 January 2009.