The name of a former Cheam High School student is up in northern lights after his debut album stormed to number one in Scandinavia.

Koop Arponen, 25, moved to Finland to find construction work last August but remarkably ended up winning the country’s version of the X Factor.

After securing a record contract with Sony BMG, he gave up the day job and has now topped the album charts with his New Town release.

Over recent weeks Koop has worked on a single in Los Angeles and performed in front of 2m TV viewers in the Netherlands.

In his busy itinerary, he also still found time for a brief reunion with regulars at the Ye Olde Red Lion pub in Cheam Village.

All the globetrotting is helping to make Finland, his father’s native land, famous for more than just saunas, the Moomins, Nokia and functional architecture.

Koop said: “The past few weeks have been very hectic. But, fortunately, people in Finland are quite modest so I don’t get stopped on the street.

"It is only in the evening, when they have a few drinks, that I suddenly start getting recognised.

“I did really well out of the competition - my odds were 250-1 at the start, so I put on £20 and won £5,000.

"And I have just been told my songs are going to be used for a TV programme and an advertising campaign here.”

Koop, a creative music technology graduate, lived in Cheam for 20 years, playing the drums in the Santonica school band.

Before triumphing in the Idols talent contest, which gripped 2m Finns, his biggest success involved winning £1,000 in a karaoke competition.

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