A community choir that attracted more than 150 applicants when it was launched this year is about to perform its first concert.

About 80 members of the Malmesbury Community Choir, which is at maximum capacity, will take part in the Choirs at Christmas concert at the town’s secondary school on Saturday, December 21, at 7pm.

Choir member Fiona Craig said: “This is going to be our very first concert and we really hope people will want to come and listen to us.

“We have been working away since June because we wanted to see if we were going to be any good because we didn’t audition anybody when we first started.

“As a community choir the concept is that anyone can join but the problem with having 150 people is it becomes more of a crowd management issue.

“We wouldn’t have been able to control the quality of the singing if it was to go over a certain size. There are 80 people in the choir but we never thought it would get that big.

“We’ve got a really lovely sound.

“We’ve been really surprised by the quality of the singing, but perhaps everybody in Malmesbury can sing.

“Our musical director Laurie Jones has been delighted.

“We are planning to put on a big show and, hopefully, that will work out as planned.”

Malmesbury Community Choir will be performing a broad range of music alongside their guest choir, Bath Welcome Choir.

Tickets are £10 and include a glass of wine. For more details visit www.malmesbury communitychoir.org