THE recent addition of a member of a prominent Upton-upon-Severn family to the Big Brother household may have caused a media frenzy in the town but it left local people unimpressed.

Tim Culley, of Tunnel Hill, became an instant celebrity when he joined 13 other contestants bidding for a £70,000 prize in Channel Four "reality TV" programme on Sunday.

The former Malvern College pupil is the son of town councillor Neil Culley, who owns Neilano's restaurant and the Swan Hotel.

Tim's entrance into the Big Brother house prompted journalists from the national media to descend on Upton in search of information about the 23-year-old.

Tim Tyler, of the Swan Hotel, said more than a dozen reporters from papers including The Sun, Mirror and Daily Mail had spoken to staff over the past few days, only to find Mr Culley senior had gone on holiday to Portugal.

"He didn't know anything about it," said Mr Tyler. "He went away on the Thursday and Tim went in on the Sunday."

The level of interest among other members of Upton Town Council in their fellow Uptonian's new-found celebrity did not match that displayed by the tabloids.

Town mayor Eric White said he did not know it had happened and councillors Roger Barker and Simon Wilkinson both denied watching the programme.

Staff at Ye Old Anchor Inn said they too had been quizzed by journalists, but drinkers in the pub said they did not watch the show.

One man who does tune in, Big Brother fan Tim Smith, of Oakland Close, said he had not realised the new member was from Upton, but did not rate his chances of becoming the most popular contestant and scooping the £70,000 first prize.

"I think he'll struggle," said Mr Smith. "I think he stands a chance of being voted straight out because the rest of them all know each other."

A spokesman for Malvern College confirmed that Tim, who says he supports Arsenal and has a soft spot for Margaret Thatcher, was a pupil from 1992 until 1996. But the present headmaster does not know him and his housemaster at the time has since left.

"Nobody knows very much about him," said the spokesman.

n Tim Culley has eight weeks to survive if he is to claim Big Brother's £70,000 prize. But, as he comes under a 24-hour spotlight by millions of loyal viewers, how do you think he will fare?

If you think Tim has got what it takes to stay in the Big Brother house let the Malvern Gazette & Ledbury Reporter know.

Reporter Ally Hardy will be keeping her own Big Brother eye on how the Upton man fares. She can be contacted by email on ally.hardy@newsquestmidlands.co.uk.