A Kent comedian’s gag has been named as the funniest joke told at one of the country’s top festivals.

The quip by Canterbury funnyman Mark Simmons took the acclaim at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe - which finishes on Bank Holiday Monday.

The performer, who appeared as a panellist on the long-running BBC satire show Mock The Week, saw two of his jokes named in the top 15 of the U&Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe Festival competition

His winning gag was a simple one-liner: “I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship but I bottled it.”

He also came fifth as well with: “I love the Olympics. My friend and I invented a new type of relay baton: well, he came up with the idea, I ran with it.”

The competition is run by UKTV’s entertainment channel U&Dave and a total 40% of people surveyed named Simmons’ joke as the best.

Judging panelists, made up of comedy critics and comedians attended hundreds of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to pick out the best rib-ticklers.

They submitted their 10 favourites. and the shortlist from that was then submitted anonymously to a public vote of 2,000 Fringe visitors.

Simmons got into comedy after a friend convinced him to do an open mic night.

He first appeared as a soloist at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014.

Since then, his gags have placed ninth, sixth and second in U&Dave’s Joke of the Fringe polls.

This summer in Edinburgh he is debuting his show More Jokes at the Liquid Rooms Annexe, which runs until Saturday, August, 24.

He is currently doing a 200-date tour around the UK including at Deal’s Astor Theatre on September 21 and Faversham’s Alexandra Centre on November 1.

Speaking of his win Simmons quipped: “I’m really chuffed. I needed some good news as I was just fired from my job marking exam papers, can’t understand it, I always gave 110%.”

The Joke of the Fringe Award recognises both established and up-and-coming comics to celebrate the art of joke writing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

To ensure that there is no bias towards household names during the public vote, the jokes are listed with no reference to the writers or performers, meaning they are purely judged on the humour.

Cheri Hall, U&Dave channel director, said: “We are ecstatic to announce this year’s winner.

“This year’s Top 15 list features a hilarious blend of jokes that are sure to keep us laughing until the next Joke of the Fringe.”

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the biggest arts festival in the world and takes place across the city every August for three weeks.