THINK of the ukulele and surprisingly, hit singers Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift rather than George Formby will spring to mind.

And it is now becoming the instrument of choice for aspiring and experienced musicians, with music shops telling of a surge in sales of the ukulele.

The boss of iconic guitar marker Fender said there had been an "explosive growth" in ukulele sales and said the firm was tuning up its digital content business to attract more musicians.

Booths music shop in Bolton have been seen sales of the 19th century instrument increasing over the past few years.

Colin Liptrot, a sales rep at Booths Music, said: "Sales of the ukulele have been going up over time.

"Ed Sheeran plays one and it is played by bands on stage.

“More and more schools are teaching the instrument.

“It is cheap and incredibly easy to learn. In Bolton we have a number of groups who play the ukulele.”

David Elsteins set up Bolton Ukulele Group in 2013 and has seen its members grow.

He said: “We have some members who have never played a musical instrument before and those who have played other instruments. We have 250 in the group, with the oldest aged 90 and the youngest in the early 20s.

“It is an instrument you can play and sing at the same time and it has grown through social media, with people watching the British Ukulele Orchestra on YouTube."

He added: “We play anything apart from George Formby.”

And the instrument does lend itself to all music tastes, with heavy metal hits to pop being played on it to great effect.

Lydia Benson, member of the group, who lives in Heaton, said: “I bought a ukulele and had not played an instrument before. I saw the feature on Bolton Ukulele Group in The Bolton News and turned up. I now have five ukuleles!

"There isn't the music language barrier as there are with other instruments."

Children are enjoying playing the instrument just as much as the adults.

Ewan Ford, aged 10, who plays at Devonshire Road School in Heaton, said: “I like playing it, it is fun.”

Bolton Ukulele Group will be performing at the Food and Drink Festival.

The group meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at The Old Man & Scythe Pub, and is for over-18s.