A teenage girl who posted her version of a Paolo Nutini song on YouTube in memory of her mother has won a record deal.

The charity Sarah set up in memory of her mother has already raised £400,000

Sarah Phillips, 17, recorded Autumn on her mobile phone the same night her mother Debbie died of cancer in February.

The family later uploaded the video onto the video-sharing website, with a film and pictures paying tribute to 48-year-old Debbie, who had battled cancer for four years.

More than 380,000 viewers have watched the moving video and it even caught the attention of Paolo Nutini himself who invited her to a show.

It was this, she said, that made her realise it was possible to be a performer while still holding on tight to personal values.

Sarah has set up a website, Debbie Fund, to raise money to find a cure for cervical cancer.

All the proceeds of her new single Say It's Possible, made on independent label Strike Back, will go to the charity, which is aiming to raise £750,000. It has already raised £400,000.

"Ultimately, Debbie Fund is one-of-a-kind in the fight against Cervical Cancer as nowhere else in the world is research being undertaken to find a dedicated treatment," she says.

"I want more than anything to play my part in saving at least one woman from the same fate as my lovely mummy.

"And so I hope that other people will also continue to support Debbie Fund for the sake of mothers, daughters, sisters and friends, everywhere."

Sarah told Sky News Online she was enjoying the music.

"It's strange that, out of all this, it has been the saddest year of my life, and also the happiest."

While the 17-year-old says she is "still a geek" and plans to study French and Ancient Greek at university, she hopes to follow a career in music.