Romford town crier Tony Appleton has become a minor YouTube sensation after footage of an unlikely dance-off last month at Heathrow Airport notched up hundreds of views.

Mr Appleton was filmed by bemused onlookers as he duelled with a tapdancing model promoting a range of beauty products in the airport’s duty-free area.

Done up rather more heavily than his nautically uniformed 22-year-old opponent “Saucy Sue”, Mr Appleton rang his bell and shouted “hey!” repeatedly as a crowd gathered around the pair.

The three-minute piece of footage has already been watched 253 times. You can see it for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2xmGSozTpY.