Tuneful surprise as flash mob brings cheer to shoppers

But then the Lichfield Lighthouse Company sprung into action to surprise hundreds of families.

The flash mob of up to 25 men and women burst into song at Lichfield Cathedral during a festive fair.

The group of sea song and shanty singers had been invited by organisers to perform a half hour set - oblivious to everyone else.

It started off with one member of the group, which has been running for around four years, bursting into song.

Then others surrounded around other parts of the historic building then started to join in.

They then all merged together towards the end of the first song, John Kanaka, and went on to further wow the crowd with a set of around eight songs, including New York Girls and Haul on the Bowline.

At another point they also performed instruments as part of a band, including drum, flute and guitars, for some seasonal carols.

Chris Gray, operations manager at Lichfield Cathedral, said the singers had proved a massive success at the Festive Food and Gift Fair which attracted 9,000 people.

"Everybody seemed to love it. They were surprised at first and when people realised what was going on they loved and the singers got a great cheer," he said.

The group now has a repertoire of around 200 sea songs and shanties and performs across the area. They meet at the Kings Head pub in Bird Street on the first and third Monday of the month and can have around 50 people, aged from 16 to 70, turn up.

Captain of the group, Stuart Davies, said: "We had a tremendous reaction, we had some super comments from people who were very supportive and enjoyed it. People were very appreciative and really found it enjoyable. It is something you don't expect."

The 64 year-old added: "There is a tremendous revival in shanty singers across Britain at the moment. We wanted to give people the chance to take part in shanties even though we are a 100 miles from the sea."