Voices of the Valley, by the Fron male voice choir, has sold 150,000 copies in the three weeks since its release and is just behind George Michael and Girls Aloud in the charts.

The choir, which normally performs at anniversaries and eisteddfods, was spotted by Daniel Glatman, the former manager of Blue, the boy band, at a wedding earlier this year when it sang Delilah.

“The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and, when that happens, you can’t ignore it,” said Glatman. Within weeks the 60-strong choir, aged 16 to 85, struck a deal with Universal, the world’s biggest record company.

The 13 tracks chosen are a mixture of hymns such as Jerusalem and Abide With Me, and more popular melodies such as You’ll Never Walk Alone and Danny Boy. Three of the tracks, including Land of My Fathers, are sung in Welsh and 10 in English.

“Of course I never expected it would sell so well,” said Emrys Roberts, who, at 85, is the oldest member as well as a founder of the choir, which started in 1947.

Matthew Heywood, whose great-grandfather was also a founder member, is, at 18, the youngest of the 40 singers on the album. “Mates of mine were a bit rude when I joined the choir a few years ago,” he said. “But not any more after the success.”

The choir, which takes its name from the village of Froncysyllte in Denbighshire, north Wales, is made up of teachers, builders, retired coal miners and factory workers.

“I’ve enjoyed singing all my life and was in a rock band as a teenager,” said Dave Jones, the 57-year-old choir chairman, a part-time prison warder.

The choir’s success may go beyond the charts. Its story could also be turned into a film after Zygi Kamasa, the producer of Bend It Like Beckham, bought the rights.

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