A Q Magazine cover of a semi-naked Lily Allen flanked by two panthers has been crowned the magazine cover of the year at the first ever Maggie Awards.

Over 30,000 people voted for their favourite covers, with the April 2009 edition of Q coming out tops ahead of Barack Obama on Esquire and Beth Ditto's naked shot on Love Magazine.

Paul Rees, Editor-in-Chief of Q Magazine, said: “Lily Allen is hardly under-exposed, so it was essential for us to come up with something that was both striking and unique.

“Fortunately for us, Lily whole-heartedly bought into the concept and in doing so helped turn a good idea in theory into a great idea in practice."

Rees added that Allen was nowhere near the animals on the shoot, joking: "Patently no one would let us put a pop star within three feet of a man-eating big cat, so an 18-foot high cage separated Lily and the Q team from them, and the magic of digital photography put them together.

“That said, when Lily is in full flow, she could probably do more damage than a pair of panthers."

(by Scott Colothan)