A WITNEY choir’s verson of a cult song has become an online sensation and is now to be used to help fight the Ebola crisis.

The West Oxfordshire Academy of Performing Arts (WOAPA) recorded a version of catchy tune Diggy Diggy Hole, by The Yogscast, a group of YouTube broadcasters who produce online video game commentaries and songs.

WOAPA’s video has been viewed more than a quarter of a million times in just over a week.

Choir principal Brian Conroy said: “It was such a great opportunity for us to take part in, and for our video to be seen by so many people is brilliant.

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Diggy Diggy Hole has become a cult song for teenagers and youngsters are going around singing it all the time. It’s a fun song but different from the original and we had to arrange it to make sure it was in a key the children could sing in.

“It was all cloak and dagger because we had to keep the project a secret, but some of the kids twigged because they knew exactly what it was.”

The remix was produced by Oxfam as a thank-you to The Yogscast after they raised about £420,000 for the Cowley-based charity.

The Yogscast raised the funds by encouraging fans to make donations.

Oxfam approached WOAPA to record the surprise video after learning about its previous work, which has included contemporary pop songs sung by a choir.

The charity will also use the video to promote fundraising for the Ebola crisis appeal.

About 150 people from the academy’s theatre school, children’s and adult choirs recorded the video at Cokethorpe School, near Witney, on October 25. They spent the whole day recording and had to keep the project a secret.

Curbridge resident Jo Whiteside, 44, sang in the choir with her children Lauren, 14, Ben, 13, and Will, 10.

The NHS business analyst, 42, said: “It was really exciting, although quite nerve-wracking with cameras in your face.

“It was great to sing with the children and do something trendy.”

Oxfam head of community fundraising Nicola James said: “We felt that recording a performance of The Yogscast’s Diggy Diggy Hole song was much more in the spirit of The Yogscast than a straightforward thank-you letter.

“We chose the choir at WOAPA because they were engaged and really embraced the idea.”

The Yogscast, founded in 2008, made their name posting parody videos online showing walkthroughs for the video game World of Warcraft.

Diggy Diggy Hole was first sung off-the-cuff in a video in 2011 and was then made into a recorded track in July, which has had 10.4m YouTube views to date.

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