Ewan McGregor's famous toilet scene from Trainspotting

The tale of Edinburgh's drug culture beat off competition from Iain Banks, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Dame Muriel Spark and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Following the BBC campaign The Big Read, which aims to find the UK's favourite novel, Ottakar's bookshops invited customers to vote on their favourite Scottish book.

Ottakar's said votes were received from as far away as California, South Africa, Canada and Blackpool with Irvine Welsh's controversial story coming out on top.

The cult novel is a riotous account of heroin addiction, theft, drug dealing, sex and death in the Scottish capital.

First published in 1993, the story was made into an internationally successful film and was the first of many bestsellers for its author.

Top five Scottish books Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh Sunset Song - Lewis Grassic Gibbon Kidnapped - R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island - R. L. Stevenson The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark

Iain Banks narrowly missed out on a top five spot with his novel The Wasp Factory named in sixth place.

But, like R. L. Stevenson, he did manage to get two books inside the top ten with The Crow Road ninth.

However more traditional books like Walter Scott's Waverly, Ivanhoe and Heart of Midlothian failed to make the top 10.