ULTRAVOX's 1981 hit Vienna has been voted the U.K.'s best ever number two single.

The song by the British new wave band topped a poll conducted by chiefs at BBC Radio 2 and the Official Charts Company to find the greatest song which missed out on the number one spot.

The tune was kept at number two by John Lennon's Woman for a week, and then by Joe Dolce's novelty hit Shaddap You Face for a further three weeks.

Ultravox frontman Midge Ure says, "(Winning the poll has) restored our faith in the idea that the public will always recognise the good in music.

"We are extremely pleased and very humbled to have been given this honorary number one, especially knowing the outstanding records which were also in the running."

Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MACColl was voted into second place, while Don MCLean's American Pie was third.