DELIGHTED pop star Kevin Simm used his band Liberty X's Brit Awards success to thank fans for sticking by them while aiming a shot at manufactured bands.

The group, formed from the five 'flopstars' from the original Popstars programme in 2001, scooped Best British Single for their top-selling hit Just A Little.

It was voted for by commercial radio station listeners and Kevin, who lived with his parents at the Royal Hotel pub in Abbey Village, near Blackburn, before finding fame, was delighted with his group's success.

He said: "All we can do is thank all the people who have stuck by us and voted for us.

"It is more than we had imagined. To attend something like the Brits was absolutley great, to be nominated even better. To win an award was something we hadn't dare dream about.

"We have had so many high points over the last 18 months, and this is certainly one of them.

"A Brit award means a lot to us because it has been voted for by the people who matter most, our fans.

"We've got a tour coming up and I am looking forward to getting out on that and performing in front of fans. It is something which really excites me.

"But it would also be good to get back home a bit more often.

"Things like this prove we were right to hold out for the deal which we thought was best for us, rather than give in and be a manufactured band. Several deals like that were offered to us."

Brits host Davina McCall said: "It is great to see a group so genuinely excited about winning an award."

Liberty X were up against Atomic Kitten, The Tide is High (Get The Feeling); Gareth Gates, Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake); Gareth Gates, Unchained Melody; and Will Young, Anything Is Possible/Evergreen.

They were beaten to Beat British Breakthrough Act, voted for by Radio 1 listeners, by Will Young.