Westlife top charts again

Westlife have soared to the top of the charts with their fundraising single for Comic Relief.

The single Uptown Girl - originally released by Billy Joel - is Westlife's eighth number one single.

It has sold 292,318 copies, Westlife's biggest-ever first week sale. Proceeds from the single will raise over £1m for Comic Relief.

A spokesman for the band says: "Comic Relief is a brilliant organisation that raises millions of pounds to help people both at home and abroad. Every single penny that is raised goes directly to these projects.

"The band are proud to be a small part of such a worthwhile cause. They are really grateful to everyone that has donated their time and money to make this record a huge success. And especially to all our fans for supporting Comic Relief."

Westlife have just added several more dates to their UK tour schedule, bringing the total to 54 - all of them sold out. More than 500,000 fans will watch the shows around the country.

Last night, they played the first of 10 dates at Wembley Arena.

Kevin Cahill, chief executive of Comic Relief, says: "We are very excited at the amazing first week that Uptown Girl has had. We can't thank Westlife enough for their support.

"We hope all those that haven't yet bought the single will do so this week, keeping it at number one to raise even more money for Comic Relief.

"Every single bought will make a real difference to people with very hard lives both in the UK and Africa."