Reggae singer and Britain’s Got Talent star Derek Sandy has been made an Isle of Wight ambassador.

Derek was given the honour during the interval at last’s night full council meeting.

Leader of the council, Cllr Dave Stewart, presented him with a framed letter, thanking him for bringing the Island to national attention during his Britain’s Got Talent audition.

Derek wowed the judges with his original song, ‘Welcome to the Isle of Wight,’ and earned four yeses to go through to the next round.

Isle of Wight County Press:

Managing director of Visit Isle of Wight, Will Myles, presented Derek with a campaign poster, mocked up by the team.

He said: “The Visit Isle of Wight website almost crashed that night.

“At 8pm, the page views went up by 165 per cent and the actual individual users went up by 200 per cent. That’s amazing, and thank you to you for doing that.”

Derek said: “When I went to the auditions I was just thinking about the Isle of Wight. I thought, this is a good chance and I am just going to give it everything I’ve got. Everyone just fell in love with the song.

“I came here for six months and have been here 17 years, thanks to the lovely people, how they treat me. They show me so much love.

“There is more to come from Derek — trust me, there is more.”

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