IT is one of the iconic images of the Great British seaside – the jolly fisherman jumping for joy on the golden sands of Skegness. Now, more than a century since its debut, the poster has won an award.

The Jolly Fisherman poster, one of the most famous holiday adverts ever produced in Britain, and regularly updated for a new audience, has been named in a list of the top 10 favourite seaside ‘experiences’ voted for by the public.

The honour comes as the cheerful character has been at the centre of animal rights controversy, with campaigners arguing that fishing is cruel, and the poster sends out the wrong message.

It comes fourth in the annual Bucket and Spade poll conducted by the Seaside Heritage Network body, which seeks to recognise and preserve those sights and tastes that most evoke seaside memories.

The Lincolnshire resort’s Jolly Fisherman was painted in oils by artist John Hassall in 1908 after he had been commissioned by the Great Northern Railway to produce a poster promoting Skegness.

He was paid the princely sum of 12 guineas – the equivalent of around £1,900 today – for the picture of the smiling, pipe-smoking fisherman bounding along the resort’s beach.

The slogan “Skegness is SO bracing” was added by a railway employee, whose identity has been lost in the mists of time. Today, the original paintings are on display in Skegness Tower Gardens Pavilion, while the mascot is also immortalised in a statue.

“It is the very personification of the British seaside, conveying the wonder of a unique resort in a direct, humorous, all-embracing way,” voters in the Seaside Heritage Network poll agreed. 

Not everyone agrees. The poster has recently caused a storm in a teacup with animal rights group PETA calling for the fisherman to be retired, and replaced with a sculpture of a “happy plaice”.

“There’s absolutely nothing jolly about killing fish,” Jennifer White, from the group says. Local councillor and former mayor Steve Kirk describes the campaign as “nonsense”.

The full top 10 comprises: 1. Lemon Top Ice Cream, Redcar; 2. Douglas Bay Horse Tramway; 3. Stonehaven Open-Air Pool; 4. Jolly Fisherman poster, Skegness; 5. Deal Pier, Kent; 6. Central Tramway, Scarborough; 7. Hove Lagoon; 8. Super Snails, Joyland, Great Yarmouth; 9. Plaza Cinema, Weston-super-Mare; 10. Beach Huts, Wells-next-the-Sea.