A charity single sung be a late pub landlord has topped music charts just two days after it was released.

Scott Gilhooly's cover of Only You by Yazoo is now number one on both iTunes and Amazon Music.

The song has been released following Mr Gilhooly's death in May to raise cash for Braintree homeless charity, Hope House.

The landlord originally sang the song several years ago during an open mic night at his pub in Braintree, the Swiss Bell.

Chelmsford Weekly News:

Friends David Elliott, Sarah Patterson, Vikki McCord, Charlie Thrower and Terry Crouch have worked together to get the song released.

It was available to download across multiple music platforms from Monday evening and has topped charts within a matter of days.

David said: "We're absolutely blown away by the support for this. It looks like the UK top 40 beckons for some mainstream airplay.

"Lady Gaga has spent 19 days at number one on iTunes until we came along with Scott's song and blew it away.

"It's amazing."

The success of Mr Gilhooly's song came as the community planned to line the streets and pay their respects ahead of his funeral.

The publican was laid to rest on Thursday (June 11) with a small number of family members and friends attending the ceremony due to social distancing restrictions.

Mr Gilhooly died back on May 17 following an incident at the Swiss Bell.

A post-mortem revealed he died from stab wounds to the chest and neck.

Lawrence Bourke, 23, of Lister Road, Braintree, has been charged with murder and is due to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday, July 15, for a plea and trial preparation hearing.