A Yatton musician has had her debut album crowned best Christian album of the year, beating competition from Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

Rachel Walker Mason and co-writer Luke Wareham, from Clevedon, were named winners via a public vote on the online publication Louder Than The Music for their Whisper album.

The duo faced competition from more than 300 other musical acts who had released albums during 2020 and reached number 11 in the UK Christian album chart.

Rachel said: "It was an honour to be nominated alongside some major names in the music industry.

"Luke and I never dreamed we would win so it was such a wonderful surprise to find out that we had.”

The pair's album, Whisper, gained more votes than Andrea Bocelli's Believe album, as well as popular vocalist, Mica Paris' album, Gospel.

Rachel's music is available for streaming via Spotify including the title track from her debut album.