A GROUP of school boys are preparing for their busiest time of year, including their traditional working Christmas.

Thirteen boys, aged nine to 13, all members of the Durham Cathedral Choir, hope to hit the high note over coming days with the peak of the carol service season.

It means the boys, boarders at the nearby Chorister School, will wake on Christmas Day in their dormitories, instead of at home, prior to a hectic day of song.

By tradition they are each allowed to open just one present, before robing up for performances in the cathedral, backing the 12 senior members of the choir.

Their working Christmas Day begins with matins, at 10am, followed by the popular eucharist service, at 11.15am, before tucking into their turkey lunch in the Chorister School dining room.

It is then back into the cathedral choir stalls for their final performance of the year, the 3.30pm evensong service.

Chorister School headmaster Stephen Drew said by 4.30pm they are finished and ready to pack up to be taken home by their parents.

"We say goodbye and the last pair of headlights is going round the corner by 5.30pm, then we lock up the door and go home."

The boys then begin their domestic Christmas celebrations, not scheduled to return to school until January 15.

Mr Drew said visitors to the cathedral will welcome the traditional feel of most of the services.

"There will be a lot of familiar pieces, and usually one or two things maybe slightly less familiar.

"We try to maintain the traditional essence and introduce one or two new things each year, so over the course of around five years any regular visitors will notice a gradual change, but the old favourites will still be there."

Four of the 13 choirboys are poised for their first working Christmas, including new member, nine-year-old Hugh Topp-ing, while head chorister, Henry Taylor, is an old hand.

The 13-year-old choir veteran, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is about to spend his sixth successive Christmas away from home, following a family tradition started by elder brother John, his predecessor as head chorister.

l Visitors to the two main pre-Christmas services, the Festival of the Nine Lessons and Carols, on Friday, December 22, at 7pm, repeated on Christmas Eve, at 3pm, are asked to arrive early at the cathedral.