GLOBE-TROTTING members of Kidderminster Male Choir are enjoying European success after performing in three jam-packed Normandy churches.

The group visited France for their centenary concert tour last month and singer and publicity officer, Paul Brown, said they were amazed with the response they received.

The choir sold more CDs in their eight-day stay than during the previous six months in the UK.

"The first concert we did was in a church in Honfleur and it was absolutely packed, with people standing in the aisles, so we were totally overwhelmed," he said.

"After that, we went to visit the Pegasus Bridge and invasion beaches and a town called Dozule, where we joined in the 60th anniversary liberation celebrations for the town.

"We met French Resistance and Army veterans but also some British marine commandos who took part in the invasion, including Major Jack Watson - and they asked us to sing at the town's memorial."

He explained the event was held to commemorate the efforts of British Marine 48 Commando led by Jack Watson, and saw him and the other 26 members of the choir sing the British National Anthem.

"The second concert was at Gruchet le Valasse and we sang with a local mixed sex choir and it was absolutely full again," Mr Brown went on.

"The final concert was in Yport and we sang on our own again and, once again, it was absolutely packed out.

"We were amazed because August is the month when the French traditionally go on holiday, so we weren't sure what sort of reception we would get but for each of the concerts we were kept back for more than five minutes, doing encores and receiving applause."

He added each of the three concerts had been free but the audience had enjoyed them so much that they had voluntarily collected for the choir.

"They collected 1,300 euros, which is the equivalent of £1,000," he said.

"We also sold more than 80 CDs at the three concerts, charging 10 euros each so, overall, the total we raised was 2,000 euros."

Another feature of the visit, which was "very, very emotional" according to Mr Brown, was a trip to the British war cemetery at Ranville, which contains an index of the locations of the graves of British servicemen killed in the war.

The tour followed the choir's successful centenary concert at Birmingham Symphony Hall, which attracted around 1,600 people from as far afield as Australia and generated an estimated £10,000.

The money was used to buy state-of-the-art heart monitoring equipment for three Wyre Forest doctors' surgeries, which will be officially presented at the KMC annual concert, which will be held at Kidderminster Town Hall on October 16.

This will feature a guest appearance by the winner of this year's Stars In Their Eyes television talent show, Nat King Cole sound-a-like, Charles Ngandwe.

More information and tickets for the event, which starts at 7.30pm, can be obtained by calling 01562 751922.