AUDITIONS for a £70,000-a-year job to hold a Worcestershire woman’s giant rabbit turned into a flop yesterday – when 14 people turned up.

Annette Edwards, owner of Alice, the largest rabbit in the world, is looking for an assistant to travel with her for a year to hold the 4ft long bunny at events across the globe.

The 57-year-old former Playboy model, of Stoulton, near Pershore, had received nearly 2,000 applications for the X-Factor-style auditions at Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset.

The judging panel included a David Beckham lookalike, tanning expert Dee Bronze, the official witch of Wookey Hole and Mrs Edwards.

But the mum of 10, who has spent £10,000 on plastic surgery to look like the cartoon character Jessica Rabbit, was disappointed when only 14 men turned up.She has now decided to run a series of regional auditions leading up to a grand final in London.

Personal trainer Duncan Culley, aged 21, from Cardiff, was selected as the day’s winner and will now go through the final.

Mrs Edwards thinks people stayed away because they assumed the bizarre audition was an April Fool’s prank.

She said: “Because of April Fool’s day a lot of people thought it was a joke. We will never again do something like this on April 1.

“We only had 14, but they were absolutely fantastic. I’m very happy with Duncan and he’s won this region.

“The winner needs to love animals, he needs to know how to behave on television and how to handle the press. Duncan passed on all three.

“There’s another six to eight regional try-outs and the finals are in London. We’re hoping for a better turnout at the next one.”

Mr Culley said: “I saw it advertised and I wanted to come see if it was genuine and to see what it was all about.

“I’m very happy to win this round and I would definitely keep Alice safe and sound.”

Mrs Edwards said the job of holding two-and-a-half year old Alice during TV appearances could earn up to £70,000 a year. They are already booked in on a television program in Paris later this month and in Milan in May.

The next round of auditions will be in Liverpool or Manchester and the grand final will be held in London on a date to be announced.

To apply, e-mail annette edwards816@btinternet.com.