Singers from Dursley and Wotton-under-Edge have come together to celebrate their choir’s 60th anniversary – but the lockdown meant they were forced to do it online via Zoom.

Members of the 80-strong Tyndale Choral Society should have been performing Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah last weekend. Instead, they were invited to join their music director Ben Sawyer on Zoom to sing along with a YouTube performance by another choir.

Choir chairman, Magnus Carter, said: “We couldn’t let the occasion of our Diamond Jubilee pass unmarked, but of course concerts and in-person rehearsals are banned at the moment.

“We’ve been using Zoom to stay in touch and to continue weekly rehearsals, and Ben had the great idea of coming together virtually to follow the score all the way through. We even had an interval in which we could have a glass of wine and chat together.”

The YouTube video the choir watched was by the University of North Texas College of Music. Magnus said: “It was an inspiring performance, and we hope we can do just as well when we finally get to stage Elijah ourselves in 2021.”