Australian pop star Peter Andre is facing the wrath of Malta residents after he was hired to be their cultural ambassador, despite having no connection to the Mediterranean country.

The Mysterious Girl star has been asked to be the spokesperson for the capital Valletta in a bid to promote the city, but locals are furious that officials have opted for a celebrity who has no ties to Malta.

Over 1,000 residents have signed a petition against Andre's appointment in a bid to get councillors to change their minds.

The petition states, "Peter Andre should be the last person to carry such a prestigious and important title. Valletta shall only be handled with honour."

The city's mayor Alexiei Dingli is adamant Andre will boost tourism as the island will appear in his British reality Tv show, telling The Sun, "Valletta will feature prominently in his ITv show which has an average viewership of 1.7 million.

"Apart from this, I can reveal Peter promised to come again this summer where we will be discussing potential future collaborations."

Andre, who was born in London to Greek-Cypriot parents and grew up Down Under, was handed the honour after he was named Best International Male at the Malta Music Awards last week (ends10Feb13).