Unipart worker Chris Charlesworth turned to music to help him cope with a stutter he has had since he was eight.

When the 52-year-old sings, his words flow with no unwelcome interruptions.

But now the father-of-two has won plaudits for his music and song-writing at a national competition.

There were 6,000 entries in the UK Songwriting Contest and five of his 12 songs came in the top 20 per cent, with scores of seven or eight out of 10 from top music producers Richard Niles, Stuart Ebbs and Simon Ellis.

Mr Charlesworth said: “I have suffered a stutter since the age of eight and my grandfather also suffered from one, so it may be the condition has been inherited.

“Some people say that stutters begin during childhood if children have an unhappy time but that certainly wasn’t the case for me.

“Scientists have been doing research on stuttering for about 200 years and they still don’t have all the answers.

“I like to perform my songs as often as I can because when I sing on stage the words flow freely and I don’t have a problem with my stutter at all.

“I think it is something to do with feeling in control of the situation, and if I adopt the persona of a Cockney or an Australian by putting on an accent a similar thing occurs.”

Mr Charlesworth, who works in IT for Cowley-based Unipart and lives in Cholsey, added that he and his wife Heather, 49, watched the film The King’s Speech last year, in which Colin Firth plays George VI as he struggles with a stutter.

“What struck me most about the film is that some people consider those who stutter to be unintelligent and that is far from the case.”

Mrs Charlesworth, who sings backing vocals when the pair perform the songs in public, said: “When Chris gets up on stage behind his guitar his singing is completely fluent. It’s an absolute mystery to most people who know him.

“I think the same thing happened with Gareth Gates, who lost out to Will Young in the Pop Idol final a few years ago. He suffered a stutter too but it didn’t affect him when he went on stage.”

Songs Mr Charlesworth entered in the competition include You Promised To Be, and Annie Dear, a song about his great-grandparents leaving Birmingham in the 1880s to find work.

He and his wife perform them in their band The Unforced Rhythms at local venues.

Mr Charlesworth’s songs can be downloaded for free at ufr.com/songs For more information about stutters and help visit