The Stoke Sentinel's Proud of the Potteries campaign has received overwhelming support from readers and local MPs.

The campaign was launched in response to a national survey, which labelled Stoke-on-Trent the worst place to live in England and Wales, and has produced thousands of letters, comments and messages of support from people incensed with the report.

At the recent Labour Party conference in Brighton two MPs, George Stevenson, MP for Stoke South, and Mark Fisher, MP for Stoke Central, took time to distribute Proud of Stoke stickers.

Mr Stevenson said: "Anything which lifts morale in the area and builds on the strength of the people of the Potteries is all good."

Barry Stockley, leader of the city council, said the Sentinel campaign demonstrated that there was a great pride in the Potteries.

To further extend the campaign the Sentinel has launched a new mini-site attached to its website called Proud of the Potteries.

The site draws together all the paper's coverage of the heated debate that followed publication of the survey, which placed Stoke-on-Trent last out of 376 towns and cities across the country in terms of quality of life.

Information group Experian, which conducted the survey, now says it regrets any hurt or embarrassment the research has caused.

John Saunders, chief executive of Experian, said in a letter to MP George Stevenson it was never his organisation's intention to cause offence to Potteries people.

In his letter Mr Saunders said: "I believe it is important to differentiate between what we at Experian see as a valuable and entirely objective piece of social research, and the sensational and potentially damaging way in which some sectors of the media choose to report it. We clearly cannot be held responsible for the latter."

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