A SINGER-songwriter is ho-ho-hoping judges of a national Christmas song competition take a fancy to his catchy new tune.

Simon Wood, 47, is through to the semi-finals of a national songwriting competition that challenges artists to pen their best festive numbers.

Simon, from Seaford, has already seen his song It’s Christmas Time Again, which he penned and performed, played in Morrisons supermarket stores across the country as part of the UK Songwriting Contest.

Listeners will be compelled to tap their foot along to the lyrics: “I’m kissing lots of people I don’t know, and the weathergirl says there might be snow, and the reindeer are all ready to go, so come on, let’s go, come on, get your knees up. Get your knees up, your knees up, your knees up, you know it’s Christmas time again.”

Simon said: “I think I’m in with a good shout, I’m cautiously optimistic.

“It was written really quickly really and I wrote it because my father-in-law challenged me to do it. It’s an outright commercial attempt and nothing like the other songs I’ve written over the years, but it was really fun and the video to go with it isn’t bad either.”

The video for the song was shot in Friston Forest, near Alfriston, and features Simon’s relatives and loved ones. However, songwriter Simon is not taking all the credit for a potentially polished Christmas hit.

He said: “My partner Christine shot the video and the song sounds really good because of the quality of the production, so I have to thank Dean Jones at Oscillate Recordings in Hassocks for that.”

Asked how he felt knowing people were doing their Christmas shopping in Morrisons while his song played over the speakers, Simon said: “I suppose it’s quite funny. I hope they follow it up somehow and maybe ask customer services who the artist is, but that’s probably a bit of a long shot.

“You just want to get out the supermarket when you’re there, don’t you?”

Simon’s song is available to download at iTunes and Amazon.