Students had an unusual interruption to their lunchbreak at New City College in Poplar today when English National Opera popped in with an ad hoc performance.

The 'pop-up opera' on Thursday was part of an outreach programme to open up opera to young people from diverse backgrounds.

"The students were surprised and transfixed by the singing," language curriculum director Jennie Turner said. "Working with English Opera has been a novel approach to help them gain confidence with the English language."

Language students from the New City's Poplar, Shoreditch and Ilford campuses have been going to workshops on singing and songwriting with English Opera as part of a project helping youngsters improve their English as their second language and to make opera accessible to a wider audience.

The singers also promoted an upcoming performance by students who have been working on a musical which they perform in public on July 2 at New City's Ilford campus, inspired by Benjamin Britten's opera Noye's Fludde.