URMSTON entertainer Wayne Devlin pulled out all the stops to ensure there was plenty of festive spirit in Urmston over the weekend.

The singer entertained the crowd at the town's Christmas lights switch on on Friday night - and he ensured that heavy rain did not dampen the atmosphere.

The following night Wayne and his wife Val held their annual Christmas charity concert ‘Croon Into Christmas’.

Urmston resident Caroline Hinds, who enjoyed both events, said of the lights switch on: "Wayne Devlin wowed Urmston this weekend with a brilliant performance, despite the pouring rain, at the Urmston Christmas Lights Switch on event on Friday evening.

"His beautiful singing voice made us forget the downpour until we were singing and dancing along with him, the adults loved it as much as the children."

The 'Croon into Christmas' concert at the John Alker Club on Flixton Road on November 25, raised funds for the Trafford based bereavement charity ‘Once Upon A Smile’.

Wayne said ‘Val and I have worked so hard to promote this event and to give our community a night out to remember and I think we achieved that.

"We also wanted to raise more awareness of Once Upon A Smile and having Sky 212 attend and film the event will really help with letting people know what great work the charity does.

"We hope the money we have raised will go in some way to make a difference to someone’s life. We would like to thank all those businesses who donated to our raffle/auction and who displayed our posters.

"Special thanks to Home Estate Agents, United Utilities and Speakman Gates and all the staff at the John Alker Club. We’d also like to thank the community who came out in force to support the night. They all helped to make our event the success it was."

Lisa Burnett, from Urmston said of the evening: "Wayne entertained our socks off. It was an absolutely brilliant show.

"Despite the age differences in the audience from early twenties to possibly late eighties Wayne managed to keep us all gripped equally and had us all up dancing.

"The highlight for me being his rendition of Blue Christmas with an Elvis wig on and dancing like the King himself had us in hysterics.

"Thank you Mr and Mrs Devlin for bringing everyone together in Urmston, young and old and brought Christmas to us all. Well done on a brilliant night and for a great cause in Once Upon A Smile."

Another concert goer, Carl Rimmer said: "Wayne’s performance was phenomenal.

"He was a class above everything else I’ve seen locally. It was evident from this show that he deserves all the awards he has won."