NHS choir battles Bieber and X Factor for Christmas Number One

A charity single by an NHS choir is battling Justin Bieber and X Factor winner Louisa Johnson for this year's Christmas Number one.

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir 'A Bridge Over You' has made a surprising early lead in official charts sales reports ahead of chart heavyweights Bieber and Johnson.

The choir, featured on Gareth Malone's BBC2 show 'Sing While You Work', sing a mash-up of Coldplay's 'Fix You' and 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' by Simon & Garfunkel and has an early sales-only lead of just under 5,000.

But this number could receive a boost with the release of a touching video to accompany the song.

Recently filmed at University Hospital Lewisham in south-east London, the video shows NHS staff, including many members of the choir, providing frontline services for patients.

Joe Blunden, the NHS communications manager who set up the choir's Facebook page, said: "This film showcases the amazing work which NHS staff do every day - which is why we decided to launch this campaign. When we filmed it, the support from patients - which you can see in the video - was incredibly moving."

The video features staff in the Lewisham and Greenwich Trust working with elderly patients, children and babies as well as rehabilitation services.

University Hospital Lewisham, that was threatened with cuts in 2013 which was quashed by the High Court, also features in the video.

All proceeds from the song will be shared between healthcare charities, including Carers UK and Mind - with a percentage also being distributed to Samh (Scotland) and Niamh (Northern Ireland).

But the lead for Christmas Number One could change, with streaming accounting for as much as half the Top 40.

Bieber's 'Love Yourself' is popular with those streaming, and with the initial reports not including this data, he could see himself at the top of the charts on Christmas Day.

Louisa Johnson's first single 'Forever Young' has been the lowest chart entry for an X Factor winner, at number nine in the singles chart.

But the youngest ever winner still managed to sell more than 39,000 copies in the first week.

Other contenders further down the chart are Lethal Bizzle's 'Going To The Gym' at no 11 and Shakin' Stevens' 'Echoes Of Merry Christmas Everyone'.