BOLTON singer Simon Aldred has hit the top 30 with his band, Cherry Ghost.

Their single, "People Help The People", has reached number 27 in the charts after its release last week.

Cherry Ghost was Simon's brainchild after years of playing in mediocre bands.

Sick of travelling the country in the back of a Ford Transit, Simon decided to go it alone - and one solo gig in Glasgow later he found himself signed to Heavenly Records, part of major label EMI.

He recruited Jim Rhodes and Ben Parsons on guitar and piano, and the touring line-up will now probably expand further to include five or six people in total.

Simon, who is originally from Tonge Moor and went to Canon Slade School, said he was thrilled at the top 30 success.

"I'd been in bands for eight or nine years and struggled to get noticed," he said.

"We went up and down the motorway time and time again, trying to play to industry people and didn't get very far.

"And then I decided I could do it all by myself, did a gig in Glasgow and a load of record companies came up. There's no logic to it." July looks set to be a busy month for Cherry Ghost, whose album, "Thirst For Romance", is released on Monday.

Simon described the album as "quite epic, it's quite big sounding. It's not shy and reserved".

The band will play Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music on Friday, July 13.