Voters in the US town of Winfield, Missouri have re-elected their mayor, despite him dying a month before the ballot.

City bosses said they expected mayor Harry Stonebraker to win again as he had become even more popular after his death.

The 69-year-old had nearly completed his third two-year term as mayor when he died of a heart attack a month before the vote.

But because the ballot papers had been printed people were still able to vote for him, and a massive 90 percent did.

It is understood that hearing the odd news has given Gordon Brown an idea about faking his own death to secure a win in the next general election.