A FORMER colliery band is making a big noise again in the world of brass after a completing a revival in recent years.

The BHK (UK) Ltd Horden Band, from east Durham, is celebrating winning promotion to championship level, the highest grade in brass circles, from next January.

It follows their top placing in the North of England Regional Band Championships of Great Britain First Section, staged recently at Darlington's Dolphin Centre.

The band's rendition of Butterworth's Passacaglia earned high praise and top marks from competition adjudicator Colin Hardy.

Their success is in part down to the efforts of brass veteran Ray Hutchinson since he took over as band manager in October 2002, alongside musical director Wilf Beddell.

The band, winners of 300 trophies in its hey-day between 1908 and 1947, was maintained through a levy taken from pay packets of miners at Horden Colliery.

When the colliery closed in 1986 the band's demise began and numbers dwindled to just six with no conductor.

The comeback began five years ago, but funds were still thin until Peterlee decorative flooring laminates manufacturer BHK (UK) Ltd stepped in as sponsors in January.