Hollywood royalty Helen Mirren and George Clooney have been named the sexiest celebrities aged over 50, according to a poll.

Mirren, who won a best actress Oscar in 2006 for The Queen, picked up a quarter of the women’s vote (25 per cent).

The 68-year-old cemented her sex symbol reputation a few years ago when she was snapped by a photographer wearing a red bikini on a beach in Italy and the pictures went round the world.

Closely behind Mirren were Michelle Pfeiffer (24 per cent), Demi Moore (23 per cent), Kim Basinger (17 per cent) and Sharon Stone (16 per cent).

The poll of 2,000 film fans voted Clooney the sexiest man aged over 50 (39 per cent), ahead of Johnny Depp (32 per cent), Colin Firth (24 per cent), Pierce Brosnan (18 per cent) and Bruce Willis (13 per cent).

The survey – timed to coincide with the DVD and Blu-ray release of Red 2 which stars Mirren as an assassin – also named former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan as the man who has aged best, while former Countdown co-host Carol Vorderman took first place for the women.

Among the names said to have aged the worst were Madonna and Rocky star Sylvester Stallone.

A spokesman for the film, which also stars 58-year-old Bruce Willis as a retired CIA agent, said: “It’s clear from the results of the poll that being over 50, or even 60, doesn’t mean you’re over the hill – as the high-octane action of Red 2 shows.”