ANYONE who thought the coronavirus lockdown meant live gigs were cancelled hasn't met Jack Lester.

The 29-year-old singer songwriter of Kingston Bagpuize has used the excuse to live-stream a series of gigs from his back garden to hundreds of viewers on Facebook.

The former pupil at John Mason School, Abingdon, has also used the gigs to raise a bit of extra cash for the NHS, and his fans have now donated more than £3,500.

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Mr Lester, who has a day job in marketing, said: "I did it first of all as a bit of a laugh because a lot of my friends are stuck in isolation, but a lot of people tuned in so I thought we should use it to raise some money for a good cause.

"The response to the gigs has been huge with it peaking at 550 viewers online at one point, I've had some amazing messages from people telling me how much this has helped them during this crazy time for us all, so it's nice to do something to lift spirits, whilst raising critical funds for such good causes.

"Both gigs are still available on my Facebook page and have both had nearly 6,000 views."

Mr Lester is performing his next gig live on Facebook this afternoon from 4pm in aid of Oxfordshire Mind.

Tune it at facebook.com/jacklester17