The Weston estate hit the high note after two show-stopping performances of a community opera.

More than 200 people packed into the Calvary Church on Friday and Saturday night to watch dozens of locals try their hand at opera, many for the very first time.

The project was the brainchild of the Weston Community Development group and its chair Christine Davies.

She was inspired by TV star Gareth Malone, whose BBC reality show The Choir became a hit after turning complete novices into stars of the stage and screen.

Christine enlisted the help of experienced writer and musical director and writer Nick Smith, from Silk Opera, who penned the story, called Victoria’s Secret, especially for the local residents.

The two lead roles, Victoria and Fred, were taken by semi-professionals Nia Coleman and Tom Kelly who are drama students at Manchester University.

However, the rest of the cast, including youngsters making up the chorus, consisted of local people recruited at auditions held at the church.

The cast have been rehearsing three times a week since January.

Set in a gym, the show told the story of a fitness-obsessed young woman, Victoria, who is told she has a life-threatening illness.

The secret gets out to members of the gym, including her lover Fred and they rally around her putting on a fashion show to cheer her up. It concludes on a positive note with Victoria being told she may recover.

The show was filmed by ITN cameraman James Nicholas and will be available for participants and their families to buy on DVD as a souvenir.

Nick Smith, who wrote the play and its music said: "The thing about this was that it was something something different and something very special.

"For all of us, in one way or another, it was a new experience.

"It worked extremely well and we’d definitely consider doing something like this again in the future."

Christine Davies said: "It was wonderful. It was just fantastic to see everyone on stage and also how much people who came along to watch enjoyed it.

"Most of them said they had never watched an opera before.

"We have been trying to and do different things and things which bring the estate together.

"We want to try and create that feeling of belonging to one community."