Firefighters's group 'Fire Tones' score hit Christmas Band Aid single

Chris Birdsell-Jones says he was inspired when the song was played last Christmas

It has been all hands to the pump for a group of singing firefighters who have reached the top ten with their charity Christmas single.

The Fire Tones have climbed the download chart ladder to number six with their version of Band Aid's "Do they know it's Christmas".

Proceeds will go to The Firefighters Charity and The Band Aid Charity Trust.

Chris Birdsell-Jones from Welshpool came up with the idea when the song played at last year's Christmas party.

"As I looked around the room, everybody was enjoying themselves tapping on the bar, dancing, singing," he said.

"So I turned to another firefighter and suggested that we should release it this Christmas for charity."

Crews from across the UK responded to his call, with the best singers picked following auditions over the phone. The single was recorded in one day.

"We wanted to honour the spirit of the original recording, so we wanted to get it all done in one day, just as they did with the original Live Aid single," Mr Birdsell-Jones said.

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Since then, the firefighters have been involved in a massive drive to get the single sold across downloading platforms and in high street shops, and have already raised thousands of pounds for the charities.

The group is now discussing whether to release an album, and has had a "phenomenal" response from people across the fire service wanting to get involved in future projects.