AT A MERE 4ft 10ins, talented singer Hollie Bourne is living proof appearances can be deceptive.

The Worcester-born musician - dubbed the "little lady with the big voice" - began singing as a child and is now living the high life touring the cabaret circuit in Tenerife.

And the icing on the cake has come for the 30-year-old this month after chalking up a number one hit on a music chart with Australian singer and songwriter Andy Martin.

Andy, who has performed alongside the likes of Hot Chocolate and The Bay City Rollers, met Hollie while she was performing in Tenerife and was so blown away by her voice he asked her to sing on a song he had written - Stay.

The tune has since reached number one in the Airradio London Charts, an internet music chart.

Mother Christine Bourne, personal assistant to the headteacher at St Mary's Convent School in Battenhall Avenue, Worcester, said she was delighted with her daughter's success.

"I think it's fantastic news - it really is.

"I first heard it 12 months ago when she was singing in Tenerife and I just melted because it's my daughter and it's such a lovely song.

"We're so proud. We just thought, in the back of our minds, that one day she'd do something like this but it was a nice surprise to be phoned to say this."

Hollie's love affair with music and singing began at an early age as she sang along to karaoke at their St John's home.

She went to St Clement's CE Primary School in Henwick Road and Christopher Whitehead School in Bromwich Road.

After leaving, she juggled jobs at Beatties and the former Principles store in Worcester with touring on the pub and club circuit in Worcester and Birmingham.

Mother Christine, of Henwick Road, St John's, described how Hollie's barber dad Terry had pushed her on through her career and how her powerful voice had turned heads.

"A long time ago, when she first went out into the pubs, they used to advertise her as the 'little lady with the big voice' because she is only 4ft 10ins but has a remarkable voice," she said.

"She's got a very good range and can sing the great majority of songs."

Hollie had a boost in 1997 after winning a 12-month contract to sing at a holiday park in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, and has since worked as a singer with P&O Cruises, Thompson Gold, Air Tours and First Choice.

The tunes she performs range from early 60s hits to country and western and more contemporary songs made famous by Celine Dion and Shania Twain.

She eventually took her talents abroad to Majorca for five years, touring the cabaret circuit on the island, before moving to work on the same scene in Tenerife, where she has a Kylie Minogue tribute show.

And Mrs Bourne said she could not imagine her daughter - who now splits her time between looking after her eight-month old son Jack and performing on the cabaret circuit - doing anything else.

"It all started back when she was very young and she decided to go into the profession," she said.

"She enjoys it very much and loves singing - she sings all the time."