A SONG written by a musician about his home town has attracted thousands of followers on the internet.

John Lambert wrote A Little Town Bishop Auckland in only half an hour last year after someone suggested he should write a country song, even though he had never listened to the genre before.

Mr Lambert, 28, from Bishop Auckland, produced the track in a studio in his home, wrote and sang the lyrics and harmonies, and played all the instruments on the track, including lead guitar, acoustic and slide guitar, drums, bass and piano.

The song has caught the attention of people in the town and has attracted more than 5,000 hits on YouTube since it was uploaded a year ago with an accompanying video of still images from Mr Lambert’s childhood and the areas around Bishop Auckland.

Hundreds of people have joined a Facebook group dedicated to the song, which is played twice a day on local radio station Bishop FM and regularly played on match days at Bishop Auckland FC’s home ground, Heritage Park.

Fans from as far away as Canada have listened and left positive comments.

Although the song was released for sale on iTunes three weeks ago, its progress will not be known for another two months.

Mr Lambert, who teaches private music lessons and is the drummer with Bishop Auckland band Vertigo, said: “I have written lots of songs, but usually they are just funny ones taking the mick out of my mates, but this one seems to have caught the interest of people in the area.

“I was not expecting it at all.

Every week, more people seem to have heard about the song.

“I would like to thank Bishop Auckland Football Club and Bishop FM for their support and for playing it so often.”

The song is available for download on iTunes. To order a hard copy of the CD, call 07814-562438.