In an age where youth is everything, the 65-year-old actress won a victory for maturity by beating a host of younger stars for prime position in a poll carried out by UK beauty company Beautiko.

Raquel Welch: Stunning at 59

She was joined in the Top Five by two other older beauties - Joanna Lumley, 53, and Raquel Welch, 59.

Caroline Quinn of Beautiko said: "It is a surprising accolade for the more mature stars who have made sure that they still look stunning in their 50s and 60s.

"Sophia Loren, Joanna Lumley and Raquel Welch typify a generation of women who manage to defy the years."

The firm compiled a Top 20 list from a poll of more than 3,000 UK men and women aged between 20 and 40. It will use the results to help in its wider research into attitudes to looks at the close of the century.

Glamorous "granny" Loren beat Liz Hurley to the top spot with Cindy Crawford in third place. Fourth was Pretty Woman Julia Roberts, closely followed by the Absolutely Fabulous Joanna Lumley.

British beauty Joanna Lumley still looks "fabulous"

Michelle Pfeiffer, Caprice and Raquel Welch were ahead of Catherine Zeta Jones in the Top 10, in which Gwyneth Paltrow came last.

Countdown number-cruncher Carol Vorderman proved that brains can be attractive by coming in at Number 17, ahead of Coronation Street's Tracy Shaw and Titantic songstress Celine Dion.

While the cool sophistication of Queen Noor of Jordan earned her the Number 20 slot.

Anthony Edwards, who helped Beautiko devise the poll, thinks that asking an equal number of men as women had a significant bearing on the results.

"Young women today may look at someone like Sophia Loren and admire the way she looks, but they aspire more to being sexy, pretty or a ladette," he says.

Runner-up: Liz Hurley

He continues: "Men however seem to be looking for something more. They are taking better care of themselves and what they want and admire in women are looks that are classically beautiful."

The list, with photographs of the 20 women who attracted the public vote, will be placed in Europe's largest time capsule, the 100 cubic metre Millennium Vault.

This will be sealed for 1,000 years at the start of the millennium and will present a broad spectrum of 20th century trends for the people of the year 3000.

Top 20 for beauty