A TELEVISION reporter who has teamed up with a fellow St Albans mum to launch a singing service surprised shoppers in the city centre last week when they broke into song.

Singing sopranos Sally Williams, who reports for ITV London, and Laurenne Chapman discovered a shared love of singing when they met “by chance” at NCT antenatal classes before they recently became mums.

They launched Phelia – named from combining their daughter’s names, Phoebe and Amelia, and last Thursday charmed shoppers outside Marks and Spencer in St Peter’s Street with their singing to help publicise their venture to sing at weddings and parties.

Sally, 31, said she had been singing and writing songs as a hobby for years, while Laurenne, 29, is a choral scholar from Cambridge.

She added: “People have been very supportive and are having a good listen to us. People have been saying, ‘you have brought joy to my day’ and one man said, ‘you have taken all my worries away’.”

Sally and Laurenne said that it had been their “dream” to sing on stage and while they are taking bookings for weddings and parties, they admitted it would be great to eventually sing at the likes of the Royal Albert Hall.

For more information see www.facebook.com/phelia.sopranos