A blue plaque is set to be unveiled in Aspatria next week in honour of singer Kathleen Ferrier CBE.

The tribute at St Kentigern's Church will mark the venue where the internationally-acclaimed contralto gave her first professional performance in 1937.

Relatives will unveil the plaque at a ceremony on Monday.

It was one of 47 new blue plaques announced by The British Plaque Trust on BBC Music Day earlier this year to commemorate people who have influenced the musical landscape across the country.

Mark Elliot, managing editor at BBC Radio Cumbria, said: “Our listeners nominated Kathleen earlier this year and the more we learned about her and her story, the more we grew to love her. Not only a great singer but a lovely human being by all accounts.”

Born in Lancashire in 1912, Ferrier gained an international reputation as a performer and recording artist with a repertoire spanning folk music, popular ballads and classical works.

She became well known after winning a singing contest at the Carlisle Festival in 1937.

She went on to tour widely, performing in the USA, Canada and Europe and working with figures including Benjamin Britten and Sir Malcolm Sargent.

She died of cancer in 1953 at the height of her fame.

The Kathleen Ferrier Scholarship Fund was established in her honour three years later and has since made annual awards to aspiring young professional singers. Recipients have included Bryn Terfel and Lesley Garrett.