A group of musicians who are friends of those seriously hurt in the Shrewsbury explosion are recording a CD of tracks this weekend to raise cash for them.

County band Face Down which normally includes 19-year-old Sarah Pearse, who is in a serious condition in Selly Oak Hospital following the blast, as a vocalist in the line-up, is teaming up with another band called Twisted Species for the fundraising collaboration.

The CD, featuring about five songs, will go on sale next week at places around the town including Soho clothing shop and the Yorkshire House pub.

It will be available for £3, although extra donations are welcome, and all the proceeds will go towards helping the victims in their recovery.

Jon Hemstock, 21, Jon Young, 19 and Calum Barre, 21, all from Shrewsbury, were left devastated after hearing the news about their bandmate Sarah, and their other friends Scott Godbold, 23, Sam Devine-Turner, 19, and Annie Davies, 19, who were all badly injured in the explosion on January 3.

Mr Young, who works at Theatre Severn, said through his job he also knew Shrewsbury pantomime star Kiley McDonnell, who was also seriously injured after being caught up in the blast at the building on the corner of Bridge Street and Smithfield Road.

Ralph Corn, 24, of Market Drayton, and his fellow band members of Twisted Species are also friends with those injured and wanted to do something to show their support for the victims of the explosion.

Mr Corn said: “We’re putting together a CD raising money for those injured in the explosion.

“It’s going to be a five track CD lasting for about 20 minutes in total.

“All of the tracks have been created for the purpose and especially for this,” he added.

Mr Hemstock said they had also approached places such as Excentrics and Music Bros to stock the CD.

He said: “Sarah is in our band and she is the lead singer. We did gigs together in the summer with Twisted Species as a collaboration and we’ve decided to do it again for this.

“We’re recording the CD on Sunday and it will be available to buy by next weekend.

“We’re asking for a minimum £3 for each CD but if people want to spend more for a donation they can do and it will be greatly appreciated. We wanted to support and raise money for them considering that they have lost everything.”

By Russell Roberts