A LONG-established band has stolen a march on its rivals to win a competition.

The BHK (UK) Ltd Horden Colliery Band triumphed in the first section of the North of England Regional Band Championships, at Darlington's Dolphin Centre.

Competition adjudicator Colin Hardy complimented the band for an outstanding performance, describing them as worthy winners.

The win means that from January next year, the band will be promoted to championship level, the highest level achievable for brass bands.

This is partly thanks to the efforts of 63-year-old Ray Hutchinson, of Washington, Wearside, who became the band's manager last October.

A band veteran since he was 13, he played tenor horn with the Craghead Colliery Band and played solo at the Royal Albert Hall in the 1963 national championships.

A spokesman said: "The band's history of success has been set against a backdrop of the demise of the coal industry, its initial benefactor.

"In its heyday, between 1908 and 1947, Horden Colliery Band won 281 cups, nine shields and ten bowls, and maintained its financial independence by levying 1/2d per week from the miners."

When the colliery shut in 1986, the band - reduced to six members and with no conductor - struggled on. Since January, it has been sponsored by Peterleed decorative flooring laminates manufacturer and distributor BHK (UK) Ltd.