A SONG for peace concert was held at St Mary's Church during Lymm Festival.

As part of the centenary celebrations times to mark the end of the First World War, Lymm and District Chorus sang and read poetry from the war in a performance of The Armed Man.

Aftkhar Quayyum, from the Warrington Islamic Association, performed the call to prayer on the day.

Catherine Adhern, musical director of Lymm and District Chorus, said: " The choir sang with sensitivity and passion and I was extremely proud of them.

"The fact that we had some wonderful musicians accompanying us really added to the occasion and the call to prayer set the mood for the whole piece.”

Afthkar, who is also chair of Warrington Council of Faiths, said: “I was absolutely delighted to be be invited to participate in the performance of the Armed Man with Lymm and district choir.

"I performed the call to prayer known as the Adhaan as part of the 13-piece performance. I found the concert to be very emotional and thoroughly enjoyable and it was a pleasure to work alongside very talented musicians and singers."

Chairman of Lymm Festival, Ian Marks, added@ "We were treated to a wonderful performance of 'The Armed Man' by Lymm and District Chorus, which includes my wife, and by their accompanying musicians.

"It was extremely evocative and the call to prayers by Afthkar was especially moving. You could hear a pin drop as he spoke.

"The piece was commissioned for the Millennium celebrations to show the horrors of war and the wish for peace in the world. Sadly the world seems less at peace today than it was eighteen years ago.

"This choir have sung at the Festival on a regular basis and I was delighted that the audience was so large at St Mary's to help mark our 20 year celebrations.

"Feedback so far on the Festival has been excellent and events like this are a great example of the high quality performances we are proud to put on."