Midlands journalist Mark Allen has narrowly missed out on winning Cannock's answer to Big Brother, finishing the contest in second place.

Mark - who last year underwent a double lung transplant - was one of five contestants to take part in The Green Dream, an eco-version of Channel Four's reality show, and spent five-days living in a glass house in the town centre under the watchful eye of locals.

During his stay Mark and his fellow contestants had to complete a series of green challenges, and - as with the real Big Brother - the winner was decided with a public vote.

All the contestants had expected to see one of them evicted each day, but one of the first surprises was when they were told all the evictions had been postponed until the final day.

But further surprises followed when a new housemate was introduced for the first night only - and a double eviction was sprung on the housemates the day before the final.

However despite coming fourth or last in most of the tasks, Mark managed to hang on until the final.

He told HoldtheFrontPage: "It was disappointing not to win, but it was good fun and has made us all into little celebrities!"

The aim of the event was to promote recycling and green issues, and Mark also hoped to promote the transplant organ donor register, having undergone a life-saving double lung transplant last year after being struck down by pneumonia.

"It was a good social experiment and (the transplant organ donor register) got loads of publicity."