Jeff Buckley '1000 Copies Behind Leona Lewis In Christmas Chart Race'

The late Jeff Buckley is just 1000 copies behind Leona Lewis in the race to become this year's Christmas number two, sales figures show.

Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' has shot up the charts thanks to an internet campaign launched by his fans.

Lewis is currently at number one with a cover of Snow Patrol's 'Run'.

Despite huge sales, Buckley's version of the song, released in 1994, will have to settle for number two because X Factor winner Alexandra Burke is already assured of the top spot.

Burke's single, also a cover 'Hallelujah', is now understood to have sold over 300,000 copies in just five days.

As previously reported on Gigwise, fans of Buckley, who died in 1997, began their campaign in protest against the song's widespread use by contestants on most recent series of the talent competition.

Over 30,000 people have now joined a Facebook group dedicated to the challenge in a bid to prevent the winner of The X Factor from dominating the festive chart.

Burke's bid to be Christmas number one has been endorsed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.