AN Andover-born member of a well-known singing trio is aiming to take the Christmas charts by storm this weekend with his first solo single.

Gary Chilton, renowned for being part of The Soldiers group, released his first solo single I Wonder Where He Is Now on December 1.

The song, which pays tribute to his grandmother Audrey Baker, 93, is raising money for military charity Help for Heroes.

It debuted at number one in the Tesco chart and went in at number three on the Amazon pre-order chart.

Now Gary, who recorded the song’s video at Help for Heroes’ Tidworth-based recover centre, Tedworth House, is hoping to make a similar impact on this weekend’s Christmas chart.

The 46-year-old, who was born in Sheep Fair and served as a personnel selection officer in the Corps of Army Music, said: “Over the last five years I have worked hard for the Army Benevolent Fund and the Royal British Legion.

“It was to close the book being able to say that I have raised money for all of the main Armed Forces charities.

“It is very exciting being part of this project and hopefully it will give me a foothold in the industry as an artist in my own right.”

Gary, who hopes to release an album next year, has been given odds of 25/1 by bookmaker William Hill to become this year’s Christmas number one, which will be revealed on Sunday.

I Wonder Where He Is Now is on sale now from Amazon, iTunes, Tesco and HMV.