THEY are the ladies bringing music to the ears of people in Hampshire.

The south’s newest Military Wives Choir has been formed at Worthy Down Army Training Regiment near Winchester, meeting every week to sing their hearts out under the command of musical director Major Lawrence Sale.

The women meet in the practice room of the Band and Bugles of the Rifles and it is a time to leave everyday worries behind.

Dawn Devereux, a civilian instructor in the Royal Air Force, helped make the choir a reality and said it was about bringing everyone together and giving people a chance to forget everything else.

She said: “Being in a military wives choir is all about the fun of it. It’s about having that companionship – most of us have been through lots of things because we have all been married to service personnel, so it is knowing what it’s like being apart and being able to come somewhere for a couple of hours a week to forget it all.

Major Sale, who is also regional director of music for the southern region of Army bands in the UK, added: “It makes that link between the people that support us at home and those of us here in the military. It’s nice to do something that bridges that gap, and for me it’s an honour.”