A SUPERMARKET chain's dramatisation the Christmas Day truce of 1914 in its festive advert has gained national attention, but a North-East folk band has had the same idea.

On the first Christmas of World War One, over a significant portion of the Western Front in Belgium, troops emerged from their trenches laid down their arms and emerged from their trenches to share the peace of Christmas.

Richmond-based singer/songwriter Rod Hall has been reading extensively about the Great War for the past two years and writing songs on the basis of that research.

Inspired by the 1914 truce, he wrote the song Christmas Bells for his band, Fourum, which has links with Darlington and the Yorkshire Dales.

The band, which has been performing for more than 40 years, has recorded and released the song as a single, with profits from the sale to be donated to military charity Help for Heroes.

As well as the usual Fourum members, the song features the choral talents of singers Florrie Hall, Eva Midgeley, Katie Rawson and Susan Rawson.

Fourum member Jim Jack said the song seeks to capture the individual moments of that Christmas Day a century ago.

He said: "Rod also sought to show that this was a clear instance of how the only real drive to fight was the nations' leaders declarations that their countries were enemies.

"While there was some fighting on other parts of the front, the peace declared by the troops on this particular stretch of trenches extended into Boxing Day, before they were ordered to resume fighting under threat of execution if they refused."

Since the death of Fourum member Bob Hattersley from kidney cancer in 2010, the group has raised funds extensively for research into the disease.

However, with this song being so strongly linked with the Army, the group felt profits from this particular recording should be devoted to Help for Heroes, with a hope that it is used to support work at the Phoenix House recovery centre, in Catterick Garrison.

The song has been released on iTunes and Amazon, with a limited number of CD copies available via mail order from the Fourum website, fourumfolk.co.uk

Fourum will be performing at St Mary's Church, in Richmond, on December 13, at 7.30pm, and at Risedale Sports and Community College, on December 15, at 7pm.