LINDLEY Junior School Choir came agonisingly close to clinching a place in the final of a national TV competition.

The choir was in the semi-final in the Songs Of Praise Junior School Choir of the Year competition on BBC yesterday teatime – a title they won back in 2008.

Millions of viewers saw them performing the hymn All Things Bright And Beautiful – but they were pipped at the post for a place in the final with three of the six schools going through to the event which will be televised in two weeks.

It was filmed at The Lowry in Manchester and hosted by Aled Jones. The judges certainly liked what they heard from Lindley.

World-renowned tenor Russell Watson said: “It was joyous and open and I liked your smiley faces.’’

Conductor and celebrated musician Suzi Digby said “each word was performed both physically and orally”.