Sharon Osbourne, Cherie Blair & Ann Robinson? Or lookalike actress Caroline Bernstein?

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Do complete strangers think you are the queen? Do they whisper 'Is that him?' as you go by?

If you are a dead ringer for Robbie Williams or Kiera Knightley or even Gordon Brown you could make money just by turning up at events and looking like a star.

Actress Caroline Bernstein is regularly in demand as various lookalikes including Sharon Osbourne, Cherie Blair and even Margaret Thatcher (from her days in power). She says that with wigs and make-up on she has sometimes been mistaken for the real thing.

"I was doing a PR stunt in central London as Sharon Osbourne with a lookalike who does Ozzie," she says, "and we stopped traffic. Everyone was taking our photographs and tourists were coming up to us in the street to talk to us thinking we were the real thing.

"Another time I was being Cherie Blair with a Tony Blair lookalike at Alton Towers. We were there to launch a new ride. A woman came up to us with tears in her eyes thanking us for all we had done for the country. She shook our hands and was very emotional. We didn't like to say that we weren't real and that Tony and Cherie really wouldn't be likely to open a ride in a large northern funfair."

Bernstein is also an impressionist so she brings extra skills to her work such as doing the voice for each character and even singing. Other lookalikes increase their saleability by learning the voice or other aspects of the personality they ape. "There are some really good David Beckham lookalikes," says Bernstein, "and one of them has learnt some great footballing tricks. He and a Posh Spice lookalike travel the world for corporate events, commercials and the like."

David and Victoria Beckham are among the most sought-after lookalikes but the most popular by far are members of the royal family, in particular the Queen (there are several of those), Princes William and Harry, Prince Charles and, increasingly, Camilla. Otherwise, the popularity of lookalikes tends to follow the fame of the real personalities.

Bond characters, particularly Daniel Craig lookalikes, are very much in demand, as are Harry Potter lookalikes and top Hollywood stars. "Marilyn Monroe lookalikes are enduringly popular," says Bernstein. "There are two or three who work a lot - they're incredibly in demand. There's something very special about them too. They have that aura around them, almost like the real thing."

TV comedy characters also do well. Del Boy lookalikes are very much in demand, as are Patsy from Ab Fab and David Brent from The Office. Even Big Brother contestants have their own market. "I used to work with Chantal who won Celebrity Big Brother before she went on the show," says Bernstein. "She was a fantastic lookalike for Paris Hilton. As soon as she won Big Brother, though, the lookalike agencies were inundated with girls saying they could 'do a Chantal'."

Bernstein says that the demand for lookalikes has increased recently as PR companies have realised the pulling power of fake celebs. A good lookalike can earn between £350-800 for a job, with the fee running to thousands for a foreign commercial. The majority of jobs are in the evenings - corporate parties, birthday parties, wedding receptions - but you could be booked to help launch a new product at an exhibition or take part in a PR stunt out on the streets.

This kind of work comes through specialist lookalike agencies so you need to be on the books of at least one of them to get the jobs. Agencies like Susan Scott Lookalikes (www.lookalikes-susanscott.co.uk), Splitting Images (www.splitting-images.com) and Fake Faces (www.fakefaces.co.uk) are some of the biggest in the field. Before accepting you on their books they need to see a photograph of you, ideally in colour, looking like the famous person you represent. The photographs don't have to be professionally taken but they do need to capture the look.

If you are serious about getting work this way it's a good idea to invest in wigs, clothes and accessories that make you look more like the personality and to study videos of their walk, speech and mannerisms. The closer the copy, the more likely you are to get good work.

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