Anyone who could see could hear when Harrow Asian Deaf Club took part in yesterday’s New Year’s Day Parade in central London.

As part of the 27th annual event, deaf members of HADC stood on Harrow Borough Council’s bus and sang in British Sign Language to the theme of Oliver Twist’s Be Back Soon.

The Harrow contingent joined 6,000 other performers to put on three hours of entertainment for the 500,000 spectators who lined the 2.2 mile route through the West End.

Asif Iqbal, president of HADC, said: “It was a fantastic experience to go on the parade – it reminded me of the Olympic tour where the Olympians took their medals through London.

“It was just like that – the atmosphere was absolutely amazing and we were shocked to see so many people turning up for the event.

“We were told that we were the first deaf group to take part in the parade so it was a fantastic achievement to bring out the diversity and to introduce British Sign Language to a mass audience.”