Witham's homegrown pop star Olly Murs has raced against some of the world’s famous celebrities on BBC’s Top Gear.

The former X Factor runner-up, 30, was the star guest on the show’s popular segment Star in a Resonably Priced Car last night, which saw him speeding around a track in a Vauxhall Astra, vying for a top spot on the leaderboard.

The leaderboard includes famous names, such as Will Smith, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ed Sheeran, Jimmy Carr and Hugh Jackman.

Olly, a former Witham Town footballer, mentioned on the show that his first car was a Fiat Cinquecento, which he bought for £895 and spent £950 on the sound system.

He still owns the car but now opts for a luxury £60,000 Bentley Continental.

During the lap, Olly apologised to his mum, who still lives in Witham, for swearing and asked the car to “purr with me”.

Jeremy Clarkson, one of Top Gear’s presenters, said “That’s about as perfect as it comes” while watching the lap.

Former Notley High School pupil Olly, who is patron of the Newland Street-based charity Brainwave, wanted to beat Hugh Jackman’s time of one minute and 46 seconds but in fact came top of the leaderboard with a time of one minute and 44 seconds.