Manx singer Nigel Walton was the guest performer at a world record breaking ’The Gathering of Nigels’.

Nigel, originally from Douglas, was a former resident singer at the Amsterdam Hilton and has toured throughout Europe.

The day-long event was held at the Fleece Inn in Evesham, Worcestershire.

The landlord of the Fleece Inn, himself a Nigel, Nigel Smith, aged 56, one of more than 5,000 Nigels born in 1963, was concerned that no babies were given that name last year.

Mr Walton said: ’I was thrilled to be chosen to entertain at such a prestigious gathering to celebrate all things Nigel and to sign the "Book of Nigel" logging all the Nigels young and old who had attended.

’It was great to present awards to the youngest Nigel aged seven months who was not really a true Nigel as Nigel was his middle name and to the oldest Nigel, aged 80 years, to the Nigel who had travelled the farthest to attend (from Australia) and to the most unfortunate Nigel who only arrived 10 minutes before the extravaganza ended.

’One lady even proposed on stage to her fiancé who was, of course, a Nigel.’

He added: ’Nigel may not be a popular name but surely there are enough of us to try and create our lasting mark on British ancestry.’

When Nigel Smith was christened in 1964, the world seemed a promising place for Nigels.

Baby Nigels, including the Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, carried their name to 23rd in the list of most popular baby names that year but it has been downhill ever since.

The medieval English name is now considered so old-fashioned that Mr Smith decided to organise a ’Nigel Day’ in an attempt to have a gathering before Nigels become extinct.

It attracted 432 Nigels from across the UK, Texas, Canada and from Australia, where the name Nigel is synonymous with some one that has no mates.

This is a world record for the largest number of Nigels gathered in one place.

Non-Nigels were welcome to the Nigel celebration day of food and drink and entertainment, but had to wear badges identifying them as non-Nigels.