TOM Jones knows what women want and last night at Westonbirt he gave it to them.

The air of anticipation before he hit the stage at the arboretum was palpable, even as the audience got soggier and soggier in the rain.

Squeals of joy from the hundreds of women gathered around the front of the stage announced his arrival and immediately the rest of the crowd was on its feet, ready to dance.

One song in and with his audience already warmed up, one of the most famous Welshmen in the world dropped in the fact that he was almost a local lad.

“Tetbury, yes, Gloucestershire, yes, Where my ancestors come from,” he said, explaining that his father’s family came from Snowshill.

Then it was straight into Mama Told Me, his famed rich and powerful voice showing little sign of fading with the years.

The star recently lost Linda, his wife of many years and told the crowd how every time he recorded an album he would take it home to her and she would choose her favourites.

With that he introduced them to one of her choices from his latest album Long Lost Suitcase. That was followed immediately by a bluegrass-style ditty Come Along Little Children, a toe tapper that got his audience twirling in their wellies and waterproofs.

But it was one of his best known songs, Delilah, done with a slight Latin feel, that really got the crowd singing along.

It was a repertoire that moved easily from rock and roll, through pop and gospel to country.

Those who waited to the end, rather than leaving halfway through his set in a bid to escape the car park queues, had the full benefit of a well-practised performance from a star who sounded as though he was genuinely enjoying himself.