THEY may hail from East Hampshire, not Nashville, but they are now the official queens of country.

Twins Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas – who grew up on a livestock farm near Liss - have made history this week by becoming the first UK country act to hit the number one spot in the Official Albums Chart.

As duo Ward Thomas, who have performed at Meonfest at East Meon and at The Good Intent pub in Petersfield in recent years, they are now Britain’s most successful UK country act ever.

It has been a nail biting week for the 22-year-old sisters following the release of their second album Cartwheels which delivers modern country with a British twist to a mainstream audience.

And emotions were running high when the news came through that Cartwheels had made number one.

“We literally don’t know how to find the words. This is completely crazy,” was their jubilant response to Officialcharts.com

“We were hoping for the top 40 and then here we are now! It’s been a crazy week and it’s been super tense.

“Thank you so much for supporting us and supporting a great genre. We can’t express our appreciation for the amount of support we have had. It hasn’t really hit us yet – we really can’t believe it.”

Catherine and Lizzy love coming home to East Hampshire, where their mother still lives, and their songs have been inspired by the countryside here.

After the launch of their debut album From Where We Stand in 2014, which was recorded in Nashville, the home of many of their musical heroes, they told the Post keeping it personal was the key to their songwriting success.

“We like to write about everyday life, our own upbringing and the English countryside,” said the sisters who attended Alton Convent, and grew up with an older brother Tom, who attended Bedales School at Steep. He is now an actor and playwright.

“It is our early years of living on the farm that gives us our country roots,” they said.

Introduced to country music by a Canadian cousin in their early teens, they started to write songs together in the sixth form. From Where We Stand charted at number 41.