TEENAGER Tamsin Ball, who busked in the town to raise money for Help For Heroes, raised a total of £666.

Tamsin, 17, stopped off in the town during her journey to London’s O2 Arena, which saw her finish in fourth place from more than 8,000 entries in the nationwide Open Mic UK singing competition.

On May 4 and 5, she sang for shoppers in the town centre and at the Outlet Village.

It was a big feat for Tamsin, whose genre is mainly classical and musical theatre as opposed to the pop music favoured by her fellow contestants. She sang ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’ from ‘The Phantom of the Opera’.

The celebrity judging panel, which included Dane Bowers, Shola Ama and Ras Kwame from Radio 1, said she sang with clarity in the voice and mature expression, and felt she belonged on stage at the West End.

Tamsin reached the final at the O2 after winning the regional final at Plymouth Guildhall and then the area final at Portsmouth Guildhall.

She said: “It was such a buzz and so exciting to perform at the O2 and I loved every minute of it.”