British voice their voice opinions

LONDON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A BBC poll has found the majority of people in Britain dislike their own accents, and really can't stand listening to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

And despite his superstar status, many British people said they shudder when they hear soccer star David Beckham speak, The Sun reported Monday.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, actor Sean Connery has the best-loved voice in Britain, followed by Trevor McDonald, Britain's first black TV news anchorman, Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan and actor Hugh Grant.

Of 5,000 people polled, 75 percent said they had a "reasonable strong accent," and 59 percent wish they could change it to sound more like "Standard English," which was ranked as most pleasant sounding, followed by Scottish.

The most hated accent was from Birmingham, followed by Liverpool and Glasgow.