A 10-year-old girl built up the courage to sing in front of all her neighbours to say thank you to the NHS and all the key workers.

Casey-May Strawbridge from Puncknowle stunned her street into silence with a moving rendition of Amazing Grace after last week’s Clap for Carers, bringing tears to many eyes.

Her mum, Kate Strawbridge, said: “Casey-May loves singing, she’s never had any singing lessons, she usually sings behind closed doors, or if she has to sing at school with school plays but never has she sang in public like she did last Thursday.

“Casey knows what is going on with lots of sad news at the moment and she decided she would build up the courage to actually sing on Thursday night in front of our lovely neighbours. Casey-May picked Amazing Grace and practised it over and over for a few days until she was finally happy with it. She dedicated it to the amazing work from our NHS, key workers and for those suffering from this horrid virus.”

After the clap for carers at 8pm she started singing on her karaoke machine and there was total silence on Church Street, with neighbours walking down to hear her.

Kate added: “I just want to say a big thank you to them as she got the biggest applause from them all. I believe some neighbours had tears in their eyes. I could not even look at her as it would set me off and I didn’t want to put her off with me crying in the background. How her dad, Dan Strawbridge, filmed it without shaking I will never know. It wasn’t until we came back in and watched it again that we actually had a tear or two.

“I messaged Dorset County Hospital with the recording, and it was shared to its Facebook page the next day, staff said how wonderful it was and that she had an absolutely amazing voice and it made them smile.

“The reaction for the Facebook post has been amazing, full of positive comments, lots of likes and share and 8,500 views with one comment asking if she could do more. Casey-May was beaming with joy, just like all her family were. When we go out on walks, we have been stopped and said she could be a little star.

“She is planning her next song for this Thursday. We are all so very proud of Casey-May and this was an amazing ‘thank you’ to our brilliant NHS by our 10-year-old.”