THE RSPCA’S Kindness at Christmas advert might just be the best of the year – and its soundtrack is sung by a Sussex singer.

Lucy Ellie Cooper, who works for the charity, has covered Simply Red’s much-loved tune Stars in the advert, which has gone viral with more than two million views.

Now the national animal charity hopes the single will join the running for this year’s Christmas number one.

Ms Cooper, who is from Haywards Heath, said: “This was a lovely opportunity for me to combine my two loves - animals and music.

“Outside of my job at the RSPCA I am a country music singer and songwriter, so when the chance came up to record such a fantastic and well-known song for the charity’s Christmas video, I jumped at it.”

The tear-jerking tale tells the story of Woody the Christmas toy pup, who is thrown out with the rubbish before being rescued and taken in for care by the RSPCA.

Proceeds from the single, which is out now, are being donated to the RSPCA to help in their work rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming thousands of animals every year. The charity is expecting to take in around 19,000 animals this winter.

Ms Cooper added: “I really hope people will take Woody’s story into their hearts and support the RSPCA this winter.”

After a disappointing season of Christmas adverts, the RSPCA’s Kindness at Christmas might just be the forerunner for the year.

The RSPCA is braced for nearly 2,000 calls a day this festive season as it launches its Kindness at Christmas Appeal to help care for abused, neglected and sick animals.

During December last year and January (2017), 13,265 incidents were reported to the RSPCA in the South East, including 1,192 in West Sussex and 1,305 in East Sussex.

New figures from the animal welfare charity show that during the same period (Dec 2016/Jan 2017), the charity received 118,799 calls nationwide - 1,916 calls a day.

Stars, by Lucy Ellie, can be downloaded from Amazon, Google Music, iTunes and played on Spotify.

To help the RSPCA to continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals in desperate need of care, and to support the charity’s ‘kindness’ campaign, visit www.rspca.org.uk/winterappeal.