Duo Ward Thomas have become the first British country act to top the UK album chart. The homegrown country stars have hit number one this week with their second album Cartwheels and landed themselves in the history books in the process.

Ward ThomasWard Thomas are on top of the UK album chart

Ward Thomas is made up of twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas from Hampshire. The duo released their first album Where We Stand in 2014, which reached number 41 on the UK album chart.

More: Barbra Streisand Keeps Britney Spears From Scoring First UK Number One Album

Speaking to the Official Charts Company after Cartwheels hit number one the sisters said: “We literally don’t know how to find the words. This is completely crazy. We were just hoping for Top 40 and then here we are now! It’s been a crazy week and it’s been super tense. 

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

The previous highest charting album from a UK country act was The Shires' Brave which reached number 10 in 2015. Elsewhere in the chart, The Carpenters reached number two with their latest compilation The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Songs.

More: Blossoms Hit Number One With Self Titled Debut

At three is Jamie T with his fourth studio album Trick, giving him his fourth top five album in a row. At four is last week’s number one Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway by Barbra Streisand, while Wretch 32 rounds off the top five with his second studio album Growing Over Life.