A FUNNY female vicar has topped a poll of the country's favourite sit-com characters - beating Manchester matriarchs from the Royal Family out of the Top 10.

Viewers were asked to name the nation's favourite female sitcom character Dawn French's The Vicar of Dibley came in just ahead of the girls from AbFab and Friends.

Dawn French's irreverent reverend Geraldine Granger topped the chart while her double act partner Jennifer Saunders could only manage ninth place for her role as Eddy in Absolutely Fabulous, in the online poll of 3,000 adults by loyalty card Nectar.

The survey saw the other AbFab character Patsy, played by Joanna Lumley, in third place.

Jennifer Aniston's fashion-obsessed Rachel from Friends was second and the same show's character Phoebe, played by Lisa Kudrow, also made the top ten.

But the third member of the US sitcom's female trio - Monica played by Courtney Cox - failed to make the top ten.

The list was dominated by strong female characters ranging from Basil Fawlty's wife Sybil to suburban snob Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances.

Those who failed to get into the final ten included Nora Batty from Last of the Summer Wine, the female members of the Manchester classic The Royle Family, Marge Simpson or even June from Terry and June.

And while the character Dorien (played by Lesley Joseph) from Birds of a Feather is in the top ten, there is no room for the two female leads Sharon or Tracy played by Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson.

THE TOP 10

1, Geraldine Granger ( Vicar of Dibley)

2 , Rachel Green ( Friends)

3, Patsy Stone ( Absolutely Fabulous)

4, Hyacinth Bucket ( Keeping Up A ppearances)

5, Phoebe Buffet ( Friends)

6, Karen Walker ( Will And Grace)

7, Sybil Fawlty ( Fawlty Towers)

8, Roseanne Conner ( Roseanne)

9, Edina Monsoon ( Absolutely Fabulous)

10, Dorien Green ( Birds Of A Feather)

The survey was carried out to launch an online sitcom to promote the Nectar "eStores" website.

Roger Sniezek of Nectar eStores said: "The poll highlights the strength of good, strong, female comedy characters over the years rather than women who are just foils to leading men.

"All those on our top ten list are leading ladies in their series."