The Manchester Evening News website, Manchesteronline, has had a record number of hits for a single story.

The popular item covered Morrissey announcing the death of the former US president, Ronald Reagan, at a concert in Dublin.

The ex-frontman of Manchester band The Smiths went on to say that he wished it had been President George W Bush who had died instead.

A report of his remarks in the Manchester Evening News was featured on the website and was then picked up by the US website the Drudge Report - and has since spread like wildfire across the internet.

Record numbers of internet users in America contacted Manchesteronline to complain about the 45-year-old singer's comments. But there were also some messages of support for Morrissey.

The story was viewed nearly 500,000 times in the first 24 hours.

Manchester Evening News editor Paul Horrocks, said: "This is a great example of how a story which generated a lot of interest in our regional paper can be picked up by our website and create a worldwide response."

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