Orpheus Male Voice Choir in danger of folding

It was formed to keep up morale during the Second World War and has been in fine voice ever since.

But Wolverhampton's only all-male choir - which performs at dozens of civic events and community concerts each year - was today facing the prospect of collapse after a drop in membership that has left it struggling to make up numbers.

Wolverhampton Orpheus Male Voice Choir, which first performed in 1943, has just 31 singers for the upcoming season - barely half the numbers from its 1970s and 1980s heyday.

Bryan Hyett, welfare officer and a singer in the second tenor section, said: "It's devastating because the group has been part of the city's cultural landscape for so long, it is a real institution and people love it.

"But it's getting to the point where if a couple of people are sick we just wouldn't be able to cover them, and that would mean concerts being cancelled.

"We are desperately looking for new members otherwise winding it up may be the only option.

The choir, which is currently based at St John's Methodist Church in Parkfield Road, performs about 25 concerts each year.

They include a special annual gala at the Goodyear Pavilion in Stafford Road, a performance in the Mayor of Wolverhampton's parlour at the Civic Centre, and an annual Christmas concert at a venue in West Bromwich.

The group rehearses once weekly on Wednesdays from 7.30pm to 9pm.

Anyone interested in joining should visit www.womvc.org.uk