Bookmakers have slashed the odds on a song featuring two Moray women topping the pop charts this Christmas.
The Fishwives Choir is now 66-1 to reach the top spot with the single When the Boat Comes In/Eternal Father.
The group’s 40 members, who come from across the UK, are all wives or close relatives of fishermen.
The singers are the only contenders for the number one spot without a record deal, management or any financial backing.
Every penny of sales from the single will go to the Fishermen’s Mission charity, which helps seafaring families in hardship.
Among the group’s members are Helen Christie, of Lossiemouth.
The 39-year-old mother-of-three had been married for just eight days when her husband, Graeme, died of a heart attack at sea at the age of 40 in April 2010.
Also in the line-up is Burghead-born Morna Young, 29, who was just five when her father Donnie was lost overboard from his fishing vessel in April 1989, at the age of 43.
The singer, actress and playwright, who recently wrote a play entitled Lost At Sea, said: “Many in the choir are united by similarly tragic stories.”
“It’s great that the record is in contention. Fingers crossed, we going to make lots of money for the Fishermen’s Mission.”
The group was put together by Janet Dolby, an Essex woman, whose husband Colin was 47 when he died off the coast of Southend.
The idea to release the single was partly inspired by the success of the Military Wives Choir, who took the Christmas number one spot in 2011.
The Fishwives Choir single currently has better odds than those offered for several world-famous acts, including Miley Cyrus, Kylie Minogue and Eminem.
The choir is also planning to release an album in the spring.