THE Hotpots' Bernard Fresher is a very happy chappie.

Not least because his band has been rapidly propelled into the national psyche after being played on Colin Murray's Radio 1 show, but he's also received one, albeit 'unofficial' marriage proposal.

They lead a crazy lifestyle those Hotpotters – with witty ditties like 'Chippy Tea', 'Ebay 'Eck' and 'He's Turned Emo' making the band one of the most talked about acts on the folk circuit.

Not only that, the four-piece have even had a beer named after them.
But it's not all fun and games, as Bernard's come up against some harsh critics on more than one occasion.

"The worst criticism I've had personally was about my Hush Puppy boots," he says.

"I can't repeat what the emo at the front of the crowd said, but be safe in the knowledge I gave the horrible little self-harming idiot a piece of my mind later on.

"As for compliments, my favourite one came from a lady called Doris who is 83. She said our track 'Me PSP' had inspired her to pick up one of her old gadgets and have a play again. Good on yer Doris."

And girls, form an orderly queue – because the four-piece are never short of offers from willing fans.

"So far I've had one unofficial marriage proposal, three requests to spawn offspring out of wedlock, five offers of practicing spawning offspring, countless people asking can they have my flat cap and at one gig in Chorley a large percentage of the audience waggling miniature versions of me on sticks when we came on stage," continues Bernard.

"We've not got any 'proper' groupies just some very enthusiastic and loyal fans." Hotpots fans who turn up to the band's Morecambe gig are in for a real treat. "Our songs," continues Bernard, "like all classic folk songs, take inspiration from death metal albums and hard house mix CDs."

So, what do The Hotpots have in store for the rest of the year?

"The Lancashire Hotpots have in the pipeline, to name but a few; a calendar (semi nude), board game (like 'Risk' only better and with pieces of cheese), workout video (working the right arm mainly as you bring a pint of ale to the lips), new album, big Christmas gigs and a new range of underwear for men with catchy northern slogans like 'Crikey, it's a whopper' and 'it were cold outside'," laughed Bernard.

For more about the band, go to www.myspace.com/thelancashirehotpots

* THE Visitor is offering readers the chance to win one of two copies of the band's new DVD 'Never Mind The Hotpots: Live at The Citadel'.

To be in with a chance of winning, answer the following question and fill out the attached coupon with your name, age, address and daytime telephone number.

Send entries to: Lancashire Hotpots Competition, Editorial Office, The Visitor, Lancaster and Morecambe Newspapers, 12 Victoria Street, Morecambe, LA4 4AG.

Only one entry per household will be accepted and the winner will be
notified by telephone.

The closing date for entries is Tuesday, September 9.
Q) Where are the Lancashire Hotpots from?
A) Lancashire
B) London
C) Leamington Spa.