Tom Parker commemorated at singing competition at The Swan

The competition, which took place at The Swan in the town centre, was held in honour of Bolton's own Tom Parker, one fifth of chart-topping boyband The Wanted.

Tom, who was from Tonge Moor, was just 33 years old when he died in March last year, having suffered with a brain tumour since 2020.

Now, following what would have been his 35th birthday on Friday, August 4, family, friends and fans of Tom gathered for the competition.

Macaulay Elvin, who travelled from Ipswich to take part (Image: Newsquest)

Eight singers took part, being whittled down to five in the second round and then three for the final. 

Up for grabs was a £500 award for the winner and a £100 award for runner-up. 

Judges for the competition were Tom's mum, Noreen Parker, and his brother, Lewis Parker. 

Noreen spoke about being back at The Swan, where Tom competed in karaoke competitions. 

She said: "It feels weird actually, because it almost puts us back to when he used to do it, it is nice to do it actually.

"I am quite surprised because we were going to do the picnic at the new bench and then come down to The Swan, but obviously we had to postpone it due to the weather."

Will Edgar performing (Image: Newsquest)

A new bench dedicated to Tom at Seven Acres Country Park is set to be unveiled on Monday, also part of celebrations for his birthday. 

Noreen added that she was happy with the new bench, which was provided by local homeless charity Emmaus Bolton. 

His cousin, Leanne Parker, said: "What we wanted to do, is Emmaus are helping the local community, and we thought we wanted to use them when we found out they were making wooden stuff. 

"If we can raise the profile of them locally, that is a win."

Macaulay Elvin and his dad, Kenny Elvin, drove to Bolton from Ipswich, Suffolk to take part in celebrations. 

The crowd at The Swan (Image: Newsquest)

Speaking after his performance in the first round, Macaulay said: "We wanted to come here, we didn't get to last year. 

"At university we always used to get people saying they were One Direction fans, but I was always a The Wanted fan. 

"Tom Parker was an amazing performer and an inspiration to us all, whether you're a The Wanted fan or not." 

Kenny added: "We have had family members have cancer, Macaulay's gran passed away with cancer. 

"Hence why we came here to support this. We went to the football match and did the 5K walk. We like to support charity."

There were four finalists in the end: 

First place: Will Edgar, won £500

Second place: Holly Walsh, won £100

Third place: Charlie Whittam

Fourth: Becky Demaine