Hundreds of voting slips were returned, while a poll carried on the paper’s website (www.lancasterandmorecambecitizen.co.uk) attracted votes from as far a field as China and Paraguay.

Citizen chief reporter Matt Donlan was interviewed live on Manx Radio in the Isle of Man several times during the campaign and handed a petition from readers over to the Mayor of Lancaster, Cllr Janie Kirkman (pictured).

A special meeting of the city council was convened in November and backed the campaign – McGuinness will now be honoured at a civic reception in February.

Citizen editor Phil Fleming said: "It just seemed daft to us that here we had this local bloke who is a hero to millions of people around the world and who gets mobbed wherever he goes from Prague to Tokyo – yet no-one in his home town recognises him.

"We thought we would try to get something done for him and were amazed by the response. It was so huge we knew that the city council would have to back us up."

McGuinness in action