Tom's choir is the toast of Paris

But it wasn't football the 103,000 fans at the Stad de France were cheering - it was the sounds of the Flint Male Voice Choir of which the Lowton-based Deputy Leader of Wigan Council is a member.

The "Celtic Night" concerts attracted audiences of 46,000 and 57,000 and gave Cllr Sherratt, the deputy leader of Wigan Council, two days he will never forget.

He said: "This was the biggest concert I've ever taken part in. It was brilliant to hear the reaction of the fans and to look round the stadium as you left. Just unbelievable."

Different

When he retired as an electrician almost three years ago Cllr Sherratt decided he wanted to do something completely different.

The Lightshaw councillor was always fond of singing, and an admirer of Wales, so he decided to merge his two loves and joined the choir. The second bass now commutes twice a week for rehearsals.

A natural leader, he is now trying to convert the choir into wearing kilts.

He said: "I had a Welsh kilt complete with dragon made last year and wore it in October for the first time at a fund raising concert in St Catherine's Church, Lowton, which raised £1,500 for the Lowton St Luke's Church Tower Appeal. It went down a treat and I'm trying to convince the other choir members how smart they are.

"One member has plucked up the courage to have one made and I'm working on the others. "

Cllr Sherratt said the Paris concert was a follow-up to an Interceltic Festival in Brittany last summer and once again the 48-member Flint choir were treated like royalty.

He said: "We also sang in the Eiffel Tower gardens and were given a police escort from the stadium to the tower. They stopped all the traffic on the Champs Elysee while we drove through with crowds waving. They also blocked off the motorway.

"It was amazing. The French police should be looked at a bit more closely by forces over here."

Tom has a few local concerts scheduled before the choir leaves for Dublin in September.