A choir is one stage closer to singing for the Queen after impressing judges at an audition for Britain’s Got Talent.

Funky Voices, a community choir with branches in Witham and throughout Essex, sailed through the first round of the auditions in London.

Winners of the competition are awarded a cash prize and the opportunity to perform in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Show.

The 125 singers, including at least 40 from the Witham branch of the group, were given their own room to wait for their audition on November 19 at The Emirates Stadium, as they were one of the largest groups to have tried out for the show.

The singers now face an anxious wait to hear if they have got through to the next round, singing in front of the Britain’s Got Talent celebrity judges, Simon Cowell, David Walliams, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon, which takes place in February.