THE word on the street was “This is Stockton-on-Tees” as thousands of residents attempted the world’s biggest game of Chinese Whispers to bolster the town’s image before a controversial Channel 4 documentary is broadcast.

Over two days ‘The Loudest Whisper’ will spread the message at some of the borough’s beauty spots including Infinity Bridge, Preston Park Museum and Grounds, and Wynyard Hall.

The 'Psst...’ (Positively Stockton-on-Tees) Campaign was launched after filming for the Benefits Street series started last year which, it is feared, will negatively portray residents living in Kingston Road in the deprived Tilery area.

The first series, based in Birmingham, was branded ‘poverty porn’, however the hit show’s producers insisted it was about ‘giving a voice’ to a little known section of society.

World champion Stockton sprinter, Richard Kilty, demonstrated his pride for his home town by starting the “This is Stockton-on-Tees” whisper with more than 200 pupils at North Shore Academy, near Kingston Street, before 800 people passed it on over Infinity Bridge.

The message was then spread around 300 teenagers on their lunch break at Stockton Sixth Form College before it was put on ice at the Billingham Forum skating rink.

Tomorrow (Saturday) will see youngsters taking part in a swim relay at Splash from 8.15am followed by a ‘Keep Calm and Curry On’ event at Ropner Park where the whisper will continue to be circulated around the community while they tuck into Indian cuisine cooked by Parkfield and Oxbridge residents and local chef Matty Brown.

The makers of Benefit Street, Love Productions, said on its website about the documentary: “It’s a place where residents face challenges such as bringing up children in poverty, low levels of education and training, drug and alcohol dependency, and crime. But it also has a strong sense of community, where people look out for each other and where small acts of kindness can go a long way.”

Mike McGrother, frontman of the Wildcats of Kilkenny who masterminded the ambitious Psst...event with Stockton Borough Council, said: “The nature of a Chinese Whisper reminds us that a message can be manipulated, but we are choosing to remind people of how a positive message can bring a community together.

“The words of the message aren’t overly important - it’s more about the message of positivity we are putting out there.”

Phil Mulhaire who produced the spectacle, added: "This is a light-hearted response to the Benefit Street programme because people feel it will not a true reflection, that its people are not feckless, this is to show the other side."